The ICT ministers from Kenya, Uganda & Rwanda have pledged to accomplish the ‘One Area Network’ integration initiative at the Connected East Africa Summit that’s taking place in Kwale Sub-county, Mombasa.
This is a follow-up on the Regional inter-Ministerial Committee that was formed during the Transform Africa Forum held in Kigali in 2013 that mainly looked into breaking regional barriers in harmonization of ICT across the East African countries.
Rwanda’s Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana reassured delegates at the Summit – “We’re working towards replicating the achievements of the One Area Network initiative, which has resulted in lower calling costs on regional data charges.”
The Committee reported it’s progress and demonstrated its interventions in building an integrated ICT infrastructure and policies. The projects that are currently underway include the East African Broadband ICT Infrastructure Network (EAC-BIN), One Area Network and the EAC Medicine Registration and Harmonization project.
“Our costs are not alarmingly high but we are not satisfied. We are aware that cost is a very significant factor when you talk about access. We are looking at a number of ways to address this, including reviewing the taxation regime,” Kenya ICT Minister Fred Matiang’i added.
