Mandela's Passion for Telecoms Growth in Africa

As the world celebrates the life and times of late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, the icon of anti-apartheid, it is noteworthy to also remember him for his contributions to telecoms development in Africa.

Today, the world celebrates late Nelson Mandela for his political struggle and achievements in bringing peace to South Africa and the rest of the world. Yes, it is worthy to remember him for his political struggles, but there is also need to remember him for his passion and contributions to telecoms development in Africa, and this could be best captured from his speech at the opening ceremony of Telecom 95, the 7th World Telecommunications Forum and Exhibition in Geneva, on October 3, 1995.

The Value of Telecommunications According to Mandela at the opening ceremony of the Telecom 95, "As prisoners on Robben Island, when we were deprived of newspapers we searched the refuse bins for the discarded sheets of newspapers which warders had used to wrap their sandwiches. We communicated with prisoners in other sections by gathering matchboxes thrown away by warders, concealing messages in false bottoms in the boxes and leaving them for other prisoners to find. We communicated with the outside world by smuggling messages in the clothing of released prisoners. Not even the most repressive regime can stop human beings from finding ways of communicating and obtaining access to information."

This, he said, applied in equal measure to the information revolution sweeping the globe. No one can roll it back. It has the potential to open communications across all geographical and cultural divides.

Nevertheless, one gulf will not be easily bridged - that is the division between the information rich and the information poor. Justice and equity demand that we find ways of overcoming it. If more than half the world is denied access to the means of communication, the people of developing countries will not be fully part of the modern world. For in the 21st century, the capacity to communicate will almost certainly be a key human right, he said.

source: www.allafrica.com