A three-day regional seminar on costs and tariffs for member states of the Tariff Group for Africa (TAF) yesterday opened at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Senegambia.
The Gambia is the sixth African country to host the seminar, after Tanzania.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and The Gambia Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA)-backed seminar is being organised in pursuance to the ITU strategic plan adopted at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya in 2006 and the Doha Action Plan 2007 adopted at the World Telecommunication Development Conference in Doha in 2006.

During the course of the three-day seminar, delegates and stakeholders will discuss the telecommunication tariff situation in Africa, review TAF group cost model and general tariff related matters of specific interest to Africa. The participants will also deliberate on international internet connectivity, the accounting issues relating to Internet Protocol (IP) telephony/interconnection of IP networks and the public switched networks, accounting rates for tariff terminating on mobile networks, and interconnection between fixed and mobile networks, among others.

Opening the seminar, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Communication and Information Technology, Ebou Jobe, Director of IT at the Department of State for Communications and Information Technology, said the seminar registers another milestone to augment Africa’s capacity to face the challenges of information society. Mr. Jobe pointed out that the hosting of the seminar confirms The Gambia’s commitment to the Instanbul Plan of Action, Programme 4 and embraces WTSA-04 Resolution 26.
He spurred the participants to work towards setting up a viable framework in the ICT sector for closer cooperation on interconnection tariff structures that place a high priority in the need for accessible, affordable and easily available telecommunication networks for the ordinary Africans. "The vast majority of people who are adversely affected by the digital divide continue to reside in the rural areas with limited or no opportunity to participate meaningfully in the global information and communication infrastructure," he added.

He affirmed that to bridge the digital divide, requires constant assessment of policies and strategies at the continental level to align with global trends within the "flat world". He indicated that Africa needs to harness existing and emerging technologies with confidence to ensure affordable access.
Mr. Jobe informed the gathering about the achievement of 15 per cent tele-density under the leadership of President Yahya Jammeh. He said this achievement ranks The Gambia high on the indices of access and affordable telecommunication.
He then reminded the participants about one of the key affirmations as enshrined in the Declarations of Principles by the World Summit on Information Society and further reaffirmed in Tunis Commitments on Information Society. "We affirm that development of ICTs provides enormous opportunities for women, who should be an integral part of, and key actors, in the information society. We are committed to ensuring that the information society enables women’s empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society and in all decision-making processes. To this end, we should mainstream a gender equality perspective and use ICTs as a tool to that end," he noted.

Alagi Gaye, Director General of PURA, amplified that dynamic and constantly evolving nature of the communications industry means that policy makers and regulators are struggling to keep pace with such an industry. Mr. Gaye noted that the meeting presents an opportunity for deliberation, saying this will go a long way to strengthening our commitment to further liberalisation of the communication sector in the country.
Modibo Traore, Chairman of TAF, assured his organisation’s commitment to the realisation of the targets for the development of IT in Africa.
Other speakers at the opening ceremony included representatives of ITU.   The seminar will be succeeded by a one-day meeting of TAF member States.