Press Release
There is a
mood of impatience among the ministers, businessmen and education experts
attending this year’s eLearning Africa conference in Cairo. Aware of the
opportunity offered by information and communication technologies to spread
education, training and access to information throughout Africa, many are
starting to feel that 2063, the date the African Union has set for the
realisation of its vision of a ‘transformed continent’, may be too long to
wait. They want Africans, and particularly young people, to feel the benefits,
which the combination of technology and education can bring, within the next
ten years.
“We are not going to wait until 2063,”
Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, H.E. Yasser
ElKady, told the conference’s opening session yesterday (Tuesday) evening.
And one of Africa’s leading intellectuals, Professor Ismail Serageldin, the founder and Director of the Bioblioteca Alexandrina, said:
“It’s the dawn of a new age! Let’s embrace it. There is so much we can do for a new generation and for the whole world… We cannot let the gap between us and the advanced nations continue to grow. We must translate rhetoric into action. Rhetoric, declarations, plans and targets are not equal to action.”
Experts at the conference agree that failure to accelerate the pace of change could have devastating consequences forAfrica .
“There is a widespread awareness among educators, politicians and businessmen that we really have to move quickly now,” says Charles Senkondo, Executive Director ofTanzania Africa
is a young continent and that soon the majority of our population will be under
the age of 24. We can’t afford to leave the future of 200 million young
Africans to chance. Unless we invest heavily in education and training, and
ensure that our young people are fully equipped to compete in the digital age,
we will store up some very serious social problems for ourselves and our
neighbours.”
The view was echoed by Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, founder of RISE Networks and a leading social entrepreneur, who addressed the conference this morning (Wednesday)
.
“56 million Africans aged 15 / 24 haven’t completed primary education…,” she said. “The more uneducated childrenAfrica
has, the more prisons we’ll have to build.”
And one of Africa’s leading intellectuals, Professor Ismail Serageldin, the founder and Director of the Bioblioteca Alexandrina, said:
“It’s the dawn of a new age! Let’s embrace it. There is so much we can do for a new generation and for the whole world… We cannot let the gap between us and the advanced nations continue to grow. We must translate rhetoric into action. Rhetoric, declarations, plans and targets are not equal to action.”
Experts at the conference agree that failure to accelerate the pace of change could have devastating consequences for
“There is a widespread awareness among educators, politicians and businessmen that we really have to move quickly now,” says Charles Senkondo, Executive Director of
The view was echoed by Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, founder of RISE Networks and a leading social entrepreneur, who addressed the conference this morning (Wednesday)
.
“56 million Africans aged 15 / 24 haven’t completed primary education…,” she said. “The more uneducated children
