African nations to come under 'Pan-African-e-network': Kalam

Chennai, Feb 23 (UNI) President A P J Abdul Kalam today said 20 African countries would be connected under 'Pan-African e-network,' an e-connectivity provided by India, by the first half of 2007.

''India's offer has been received very well all over the African continent and it will be operationalised in the rest of African nations by early 2008 at a cost of USD 100 million,'' he said while launching the International Conference on 'Signal Processing, Communications and Networking' at the Madras Institute of Technology here.

Dr Kalam had made the offer to provide e-connectivity to all the 53 countries of Africa and also connect all the Heads of States of the Pan African countries, while addressing the inaugural session of the Pan African Parliament in 2004.

The idea was to use the core competence of India to assist those countries in the field of IT for providing at least one hub in each of the African countries through which various e-services like tele-education, tele-medicine and e-governance could be provided, he said.

He said the Pan African e-Network project brought together the terrestrial network between India and Africa through the international under sea fiber cable network and also the African satellite network services to provide education and health care services from India and Africa to the 53 Pan African nations and also connecting the 53 heads of the state.

The Universities and Super Specialty hospitals of Africa would also use this Pan African e-Network to provide services and content.

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