Djibouti, August 21, 2010 – Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna on Monday launched the second phase of pan-African e-network project that offers a range of services in distance learning and Tele-Medicine to African nations.

Speaking to senior ministers of 12 African countries via video-conference, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna asked ministers of 12 countries to take full advantage of the services offered by India in the fields of education and medicine. In address to senior African officials Mr. Krishna underlined the importance to develop multi-faceted and enduring partnership between India and the African continent.

The Tele-interaction lasted for nearly two hours and cut across the African continent covering countries ranging from Egypt in the north to Botswana in the south.

The countries that formally joined the network include Burundi, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Eritrea, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somaliland and Uganda.

Eleven countries included in the first phase of the project launched last year were Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Seychelles.

“The pan-African e-Network project is one of the finest examples of the growing partnership between India and Africa,” Krishna said after the launch of the e-network in front of African ambassadors.

“I understand that this is the biggest project of distance education and tele-medicine ever undertaken in Africa,” he said.

The video-interaction was organized by Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), which is also implementing the $125-million project.

A brainchild of India’s former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the e-network seeks to bridge the digital divide across the 53-nation African continent and seeks to provide Tele-medicine and Tele-education through a fiber-optic network.

India has signed agreement with 47 countries in Africa, but the infrastructure has been completed in 34 of them.

The project won the prestigious Hermes Prize recently for innovation in the field of sustainable development. The prize was announced May 25 in Paris by the European Institute of Creative Strategies and Innovation.

The seven Indian educational institutions associated with the project are Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Amity University, University of Madras, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, University of Delhi and Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur.

Under the project, Tele-medicine patient-end locations have been set up in 11 Indian super specialty hospitals. These have been connected to 33 patient-end hospitals in Africa. Regular tele-medicine consultations have already started in some of the countries.

India-Pan Africa Network launches in Djibouti

In the capital Djibouti, the Deputy Minister for International Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Ali Silay and Ambassador of India to Djibouti Bhagwant Singh participated in the exercise of the interconnection network of the Pan African, which was launched on Tuesday.

Officials in Djibouti made the contact with their Indian counterpart and other African leaders via video conference with 12 other ministers from different African countries all connected simultaneously on the network. This project aims to interconnect the 53 countries of the African Union and India.

It is designed to enhance the capabilities and reinforce partnership of India and African nations in the field of new technologies of information and communication but also to exchange expertise in health care and development of higher education in African nations.

Source: Indo-Asian News Services & Djibouti News Agency

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