Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, Secretary of State for Communication, Information and Technology, on Monday, formally launched the multi-utility internet café of Next door Internet Communication and Energy service Café (NICE) Gambia Ltd, at the CCF Skill Centre in Brikama Jamisa, Western Region.

Delivering her opening statement, Secretary of State Macdouall-Gaye said the launch manifested the commitment of the private sector, as a true partner in national development, offering affordable services to people at the bottom of the economic ladder.

SoS Macdouall-Gaye added that the drive of NICE Gambia to offer rural Gambian communities with internet services, IT training, television service, among other things, will contribute to the building of an inclusive information society, particularly in implementing the National Information and Communication Policy.

“At the same time, NICE is poised to offer banking and micro-finance services, along with the provision of other basic service all under one roof within this magnificent complex which the people of Brikama (I am sure) will cherish”, she added.

The ICT Secretary of State Macdouall-Gaye then urged the people of Brikama to make full use of the facilities and services provided in order to empower themselves to contribute more to national development. According to her, the initiative compliments Vision 2020 and the Poverty Reduction Strategy, in uplifting the living standards of Gambians.

“It is for this reason that the Government of the Gambia supports the establishment of NICE Gambia Ltd as a private sector partner to complement Government's efforts to implement the vision of His Excellency the President, since the government alone cannot do it all,” she noted.

SoS Macdouall-Gaye assured Nice Gambia that every effort will be made to “encourage similar initiatives and to leverage the added value of universal services obligation wherever appropriate”. She informed the gathering that her department was in the process of securing finance to establish ICT centers across the country, expressing hope to working in partnership with the private sector to achieve the objectives. She then commended NICE Gambia for the initiative.

Omar Njie, Managing Director of NICE Gambia Ltd, said NICE is a concept derived from “two big energy” companies called Econcern and Essent in Holland. Mr Njie said these companies formed the Energy4all Foundation, through which they wish to fulfill their corporate social responsibility and step foot into Africa.

He reminded the gathering that the world has been changing “faster than we can imagine” because of IT, education and energy. He affirmed that NICE came to participate in the digital revolution in order to give Gambians and Africans the potentials to move with the space of technology, through education and reliable energy.

“Despite the digital revolution, laptops and desktops are only used by elites, the poor are deprived from the digital revolution, and NICE wants to end this in Africa starting from The Gambia. We want to make sure kids have access to information and education of the 21st century.

The wireless broadband connection and the energy supply play a key role in the NICE Café; wireless broadband with solar power provides freedom of settlement. NICE wants to take the challenge to convert the poor into consumers. NICE will make dreams come through for the less fortunate ones, through a combination of state-of-the-art robust computers and renewable energy systems,” he assured.

He disclosed that NICE plans to establish 20 more cafes in the country this year, before moving to another African country to test the concept. “Our target is to spread over 75 NICE cafes throughout The Gambia,” he said.

“The outsider mentality is that much of Africa is an untamed realm of economic depression and social disintegration. Few investors like Econcern and Essent identify Africa as a location for growth or gain. There is no better platform to help revitalize Africa than through technological empowerment.

Technology can empower Africans to take hold of their economic and social future. To do so requires giving them the tools and the autonomy to move ahead. Africa is being readied for a major change. The fulcrum for change is technology, energy and education,” he reiterated.

According to NICE Gambia MD Njie, poverty and deprivation in rural areas, coupled with the spill-over into urban areas, cannot be solved by preventing urbanisation and keeping rural people confined to rural areas. “In spite of rapid urbanisation, 60 per cent of the people in developing countries, and half of the people of the world, still live in rural areas.

Three quarters of the world's poor, those earning less than a Euro a day, the majority of these live in rural areas. Non-attendance in school, early dropout of students, adult illiteracy and gender inequality in education are disproportionately high in rural areas, as is poverty. NICE wants to play a role in addressing the problem of rural urban migration,” he said.

He then added: “Urban-rural disparities in educational investment and in the quality of teaching and learning are widespread and needs to be redressed. Educational activities have to be linked to the specific needs of the rural community for skills and capacities to seize economic opportunities, improve livelihood and enhance the quality of life.”

Mr Njie disclosed that for industries, such as manufacturing, banking, transport and tourism and other business enterprises, a “good telecommunications is a prerequisite for an efficient and competitive business to flourish in a local economy.

The same need for good quality and reliable communications equally applies to healthcare and education. To have a good telecommunication, the monopoly of the incumbent telecoms company within some African countries has to be ended. A good telecommunication network is vital if a nation is to develop its full potential”.

However, he indicated that the problem has been exacerbated because the “bandwidth requirements are growing at a rate that even the most optimistic forecasters would not have dared to project even five years ago.

Bandwidth is the major determinant of internet cost and the medium of long haul bandwidth delivery is also a cost component,” he said, and then urged: “Let’s open up now because the world is changing faster and we need to catch up.”

He then disclosed that NICE Gambia employed 17 young Gambians and has a target to employ at least 1,200 young employees, if the target of setting up 75 NICE Cafes in the Gambia is achieved.

Mr Njie thanked CCF for its partnership, and then commended Econcern and Essent for investing in The Gambia.

Other dignitaries at the ceremony included Matty Boye, Education Director for Western Region, deputized for Fatou Lamin Faye, SoS Education, Mambayick Njie, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Department of State for Youth, Sports and Religious Affairs, Ousman Cham, CCF Director for West and Central Africa, Muhammed Jah, Managing Director and CEO of QuantunNet, and Papa Yusufa Njie, CEO of Unique Solutions and President of IT Association of The Gambia.

The foreign dignitaries were Wilmot John, Dutch Consular to The Gambia, Paul Vansou, Director of Essent Germany and Chairman of Energy4All Foundation, Frank Wouters, Director of New International Development for Econcern, Ronald Blou, former President of Enerco, and Van Paul Soest, a consultant.