ENTEBBE— Uganda has assumed the chairmanship of The African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (AFRALTI) Governing Council from Kenya, a position that is rotational among the member states.
Mr. Nnyombi Thembo, the Executive Director of Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) will, in the next year, lead AFRALTI, an Inter-Governmental Organisation that seeks to support ICT development efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa by developing human capacity in ICTs through training, consultancy, and research.
Chris Baryomunsi, Minister for ICT and National Guidance presided over the weeklong meeting hosted by Uganda at Entebbe.
AFRALTI is also an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) accredited training institute.
I’m his speech, the UCC ED informed the delegates that Uganda remains committed to the pledge to “not leave no one behind” and called upon the member states to implement this by ensuring targeted support to enable countries in dire need to address their challenges without any conditionalities.
He added: “We are proud as Uganda to have taken the chairmanship of the council.”
“I want to build on the successes of what my predecessors have achieved and of course, looking into other new areas which includes building on the successes, I can see a lot of successes which my predecessor have done, I’ll build on that. And again, we shall look at some new areas especially making sure that a lot of capacity building is done in in data analytics. Data Analytics is the bedrock foundation of artificial intelligence. That’s the message you want now to give to everybody that handles data,” he said.
He said the meeting hosted in Kampala provides a platform for delegates to share ideas and experiences on how best to contribute strategically to the growth of the ICT sector through human resource development in their respective countries.
Mr. Thembo said the high cost of internet is another challenge frustrating Uganda’s digital transformation journey and said he will rally AFRALTI member states to address it jointly.
“The cost of internet is very high because technology is growing at a high speed and telecom operators have to invest in this technology like 5G, 6G and others. However, the capacity of 5G and 6G is very high and if the telecom companies are to recover money, they have to charge highly to recover their money. Therefore, telecom companies are investing a lot in order not to be left behind but the uptake of internet is still very low,” Thembo said.
He said that the penetration of smart phones is also still very low which also means the uptake of internet is still very low which means cost has to be high for internet.
“In Uganda the penetration is only at 20% and when this penetration rate is very low, the cost will remain high for data. Whereas this cost has gone down to per $60 Mbps per month, we need to reduce it to at least $20 Mbps per month.”
The Governing Council (GC) comprises a representative from each of the following member states. Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, the Kingdom of Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and The Gambia.
The Governing Council is the supreme decision-making organ of AFRALTI, which meets once every calendar year to review the institution’s performance, strategic positioning, and sustainability.
On his part, the Minister for ICT, Dr. Baryomunsi said Uganda government is doing whatever it takes to bring down the cost of smart devices as well as internet.
“ One of the steps we are taking is taxation by waiving off a number of taxes but also encouraging technology companies to manufacture and assemble most of these devices within the country,” Baryomunsi said.
He said at least two companies including Simi Mobile in Namanve Industrial Park and Mione in Mbale Industrial Park have started assembling phones locally.
“They are assembling mobile phones locally and selling them cheaper than those we import. This will ensure penetration of smart devices can increase so that even local people can afford them.”
