Progress Report on Flagship Programmes and Projects I

UNIÃO AFRICANA

AFRICAN UNION CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS IN CHARGE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (CITMC) 19th – 21st, LIVINGSTONE, JUNE 2013

PROGRESS REPORT ON FLAGSHIP PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS I. PROGRAM ON INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA (PIDA)

OBJECTIVE 1. PIDA aims at accelerating the regional integration of the continent and African Regional Economic Communities by improving access to integrated regional and continental infrastructure networks.

STATUS

2. Projects were prioritized based on three criteria categories: (1) eligibility and regional integration, (2) feasibility and readiness and (3) development impacts. These detailed criteria were discussed and agreed as part of the extensive PIDA consultation process with stakeholders. Projects selected for the PAP have been assessed, selected and ranked based on sub-criteria within each of these three groupings and were validated during the regional consultations, review processes and endorsement from sector ministerial meetings.

3. Two-day consultations were held with each REC and the related regional agencies to discuss selection criteria, debate potential projects and reach consensus on programme details Altogether, more than 300 representatives from African states attended. Sector minister's meetings were held to consider and endorse PIDA outcomes. This broad participation, which led to a continent-wide consensus, laid the foundation for continuing ownership through all phases of implementation. This bottom-up process infused PIDA with specific quantitative measurements, such as national and regional investment programme details, as well as critical qualitative inputs, such as community desires and preferences.

4. The result of the consultations is the Priority Action Plan (PAP) made up of 51 projects and programmes grouped into a set of general categories, though a number offer cross-sector benefits: 15 energy; 24 transport; 9 trans-boundary water; 3 ICT. The groupings are:

 Energy: hydropower, interconnections, pipelines;  Transport: connectivity, corridor modernization, ports and railways modernization, air transport modernization;  Water: multipurpose dams, capacity building, water transfer;  ICT: capacity building, land interconnection infrastructure, internet exchange points;

5. PIDA implementation Road Map has been developed & adopted and its implementation is on-going

6. A PIDA implementation workshop and joint AU-World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting on funding of infrastructure in Africa took place in Johannesburg on 17-19 April 2013.

Update on AUC-NPCA-RECs Capacity building (CB) initiatives 1 7. The GIZ and AfDB – are the two institutional partners of the AU, supporting the AUC/NPCA/RECs capacity building initiative to implement PIDA PAP.

8. GIZ has provided technical assistance to both AUC and NPCA to support key technical positions. The Euro 800,000.00 earmarked to support RECs CB activities, has not yet been approved by the German Government. Approval is expected by end-September 2013.

9. AfDB capacity building support to AUC/NPCA/RECs has been delayed due to the fact that Bank management needed more clarity on the objectives of the CB initiative, and, the roles and responsibilities for the various institutions involved to ensure that the project achieved the desired results. US$ 8 million had been allocated for the AUC, NPCA, and RECs, PIDA Capacity Building Project and the project is expected to be finalized by end-September 2013.

10.The workshop ended with the following recommendations:

On Private Sector Participation in PIDA Financing;

i. That WEF will continue to hold technical follow-up meetings with RECs from May to September 2013, after the Cape Town WEF in Africa, Summit, to exhaust the dialogue, and secure the necessary political buy-in from their political leadership.

ii. Given the need for quick PIDA implementation early success(es), the meeting agreed that the PIDA list will incorporate a "Shortlist" and a "Pipeline" of priority projects, where the approved PIDA PAP projects will constitute the "Shortlist", and new projects received from RECs and other stakeholders, will form the "Pipeline" of projects to be rolled into the "Shortlist", as projects reach maturity and financial close.

On the implementation of IAIDA;

iii. The Terms of Reference (TOR) and other relevant information of the CID and IAG should to be made available, to the institutional members identified, to serve on the two governing organs of IAIDA.

iv. The names of nominees to serve on the IAG should be sent to the AUC (i.e. Department of Infrastructure & Energy) before end-April 2013, to enable their appointments to be effected.

v. A draft Agenda and Work Programme for the CID/IAG should be prepared by AUC and NPCA.

vi. The IAG to be launched by end-July 2013, subject to SADC agreeing to host the launch, as initially agreed with AUC.

Updating of PIDA Profiles/Fisches

2 vii. AfDB appointed Aurecon to develop a comprehensive and detailed repackaged PIDA PAP project briefs, highlighting the objectives; outcomes and impacts; funding status and mechanisms; project-readiness; enabling environment issues; strategic function of the project; project-benefits and risks, associated with the 51 PIDA PAP projects/programmes. viii. The assignment will be done through extensive consultations with country public/private stakeholders, RECs, NPCA, AUC and AfDB, taking into consideration the following:

 The Project profile/fiche should be one (1) page of relevant information; however, any secondary information will be archived in the database;

 The decomposed PIDA list will incorporate a "Shortlist" and a "Pipeline" of priority projects, where the approved 51 PIDA-PAP projects/programmes, will constitute the "Shortlist", which thus, will be the basis for the updating of the Project profiles/fiches by Aurecon consultants. Existing and new projects received from RECs and other stakeholders, will form the "Pipeline" of projects to be rolled into the "Shortlist", as projects reach maturity and financial close;

 To enable the consultants to progress without delay, the 150-200 decomposed PIDA project list, will be assessed through a quick email validation process

 A two (2) stage fiche development process will be adopted, in order to report on an interim basis during the AU May Summit; hence an Interim report will be submitted on 15th May 2013; and a final report to be submitted 30th September 2013. A validation workshop on the final report will be organized back-to-back, with the NEPAD IPPF oversight committee meeting in Tunis, in June 2013.

 The consultants will develop a database for the PIDA project fiches; hence Aurecon should meet with NPCA to discuss the VPIC portal and the AID database

 The AfDB will guide the Aurecon with regards to stakeholder consultations at country, regional and continental levels and overall technical oversight of the consultancy work within the framework of the broader PIDA Steering Committee and IAG.

On PIDA Communications Strategy and Action Plan

 AUC, NPCA, AfDB and RECs should organize a validation workshop, to finalize the draft PIDA Communication Strategy.  RECs - to assign a PIDA communication focal point  Additional Human Resource capacity is needed to support the implementation of PIDA communications strategy.  A PIDA logo was agreed.  VPIC will continue to be developed by the NPCA.  The domain name for VPIC will be pida.au.int. 3  Additional domain names similar to PIDA should be secured for future use and redirected to pida.au.int.

CHALLENGES

11.The key challenges are:

 Operationalization of Institutional Architecture for PIDA Implementation: IAIDA defines responsibilities of Continental, Regional institutions (AUC, NPCA, RECs) and Member States, Builds on principles of subsidiarity, Allows high level advocacy, Provides a mechanism for reviewing performance and rolling over the PAP with access to the highest levels of the AU, RECs and Member States.

 PIDA’s implementation success lies in assurances that it will be financed: Extension of Platform for project sponsors to meet infrastructure financiers, Support to Infrastructure Project Preparation funds for PPP and regional projects, Regional projects require strong involvement from countries and RECs

 Enabling environment for more private participation: Financing will need to come mostly from domestic sources (public & private);

 Country role in PIDA implementation: Projects are implemented by countries on whose territory they are located and by their agencies (public or private), Countries are critical and efficient players, Implement “soft” components (harmonisation of continental and regional policies), Financing project preparation, capital investment, operation and maintenance

WAY FORWARD

12.The way forward is:

Finalize development of Resource mobilization strategy and Data Base system. Organize PIDA Implementation Steering Committee meeting to consider measures to speed up the implementation Road Map.

II. AFRICA’S COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED POSTAL AND ICT STRATEGIC PLAN

OBJECTIVE 13.The objective of the project is:

To develop a comprehensive integrated continental Postal and ICT strategic plan taking into account existing frameworks of all African CIT stakeholders as requested by the CITMC-4. STATUS 14.The status of implementation is as follows:

A joint AUC-NPCA –UNECA/ ICT strategic development workshop was held in Addis Ababa from 21-23 March 2013. It resulted in an initial draft of the strategic plan. 4 The next steps in the development of the Strategic Plan are aimed at involving more and more ICT stakeholders, in order to receive their inputs as well as their buy-in.

The next steps are envisaged as shown below:

ROUND PARTICIPATING STAKEHOLDERS VENUE AND DATE Round 2 AUC - Information Society Division Back-to-back with IST NPCA - NEPAD e-Africa Programme Africa, May 26 - June 1, UNECA - Knowledge Services Section 2013 AU Specialized Agencies - ATU & PAPU Nairobi, Kenya. All Regional Economic Communities Round 3 AUC - Information Society Division Part the CITMC Bureau NPCA - NEPAD e-Africa Programme Meeting in Lusaka, UNECA - Knowledge Services Section Zambia, AU Specialized Agencies - ATU & PAPU June 19 - 21, 2013 All Regional Economic Communities Members of the Bureau of the CITMC Round 4 AUC - Information Society Division Part of the ICANN 46, NPCA - NEPAD e-Africa Programme Durban, South Africa, July UNECA - Knowledge Services Section 11-18, 2013 AU Specialized Agencies - ATU & PAPU All Regional Economic Communities Members of the Bureau of the CITMC Key Private Sector Stakeholders Civil Society and Academia Round 5 AUC - Information Society Division Part of the CITMC-5 in NPCA - NEPAD e-Africa Programme Lusaka, Zambia in mid UNECA - Knowledge Services Section 2014 AU Specialized Agencies - ATU & PAPU All Regional Economic Communities Members Countries of the CITMC Key Private Sector Stakeholders

CHALLENGES 15.The key challenge is: Development of a comprehensive, unified, harmonized Postal and ICT strategy for the continent with common understanding and vision on its implementation mechanism by all key stakeholders.

WAY FORWARD 16.As way forward, on have: Finalize Development of a coherent AU Strategic CIT Framework for the period 2015 - 2020 and formulate activity plans that will guide implementation of the strategy.

III. AFRICAN INTERNET EXCHANGE SYSTEM

OBJECTIVE 17.The project aims at supporting establishment of Internet Exchange Points(IXP) in Member States and Regional Internet Exchange Points (RIXP).

STATUS 5 18.The execution of the project is as follows:

 The project steering committee has been constituted and two steering committee meetings have been held to date, while the 3rd Steering Committee meeting is planned for 27th May 2103.

 The Project implementation unit has been operationalized. Project Officer and Project Assistant has been recruited and project office equipment purchased.

 Best Practice and Internet community mobilization workshops have been organized and conducted in the following 11 AU Member States that do not have Internet Exchange Points:

Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Senegal and Swaziland.

19.The key outcomes of each workshop include but are not limited to the following:

 Consensus to establish an Internet Exchange Point in the respective Member States  Formation of a committee to conclude the shortlisted proposals on the following:

 Name of the IXP  Location of the IXP  Organization structure of the IXP  Constitution of the IXP

 Technical Trainings with the objective to prepare organizational networks for interconnection to the Internet Exchange Point have been conducted in the following 6 AU Member States: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gambia, Guinea, Namibia and Togo.

A Total of 131 participants have been awarded certificates on Technical Aspects of Setting up, Operating and Administering Internet Exchange Points.

CHALLENGE 20.Delay in getting confirmation from some Member States is the major remains the major challenge.

WAY FORWARD 21.As way forward it may recall that conducting of IXP Best Practice and Technical Training workshops in additional Member States will continue in 2013 while Regional IXP activities will commence in the third quarter of 2013.

IV. AFRICAN LEADERSHIP IN ICT

OBJECTIVE 22.The objective is to build strategic capacities of future African knowledge society leaders and policy makers on the role of ICT in Education, Science and Technology and Innovation as well as socio-economic development. 6 STATUS 23.The status of implementation is as follows:

 The first cohort of ALICT participants completed their studies and received their course completion certificates. The closing workshop and certificate awarding ceremony was held at the African Union Commission (AUC) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between 27th -29th August 2012.

 Eighty-three (83) participants from five (5) countries (Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia) successfully completed the course and received a Professional Development Certificate from GESCI and the African Union Commission on African Leadership in ICT and the Knowledge Society. These participants will also receive a post graduate diploma from Dublin City University (DCU) once the external moderation has been completed. The ALICT course was awarded academic accreditation in June 2012 by Dublin City University.

 A second cohort of the ALICT course was opened to applicants from relevant ministries and public organizations from eight (8) Member States (Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda and Uganda) and AUC. The course delivery commenced on 1st October 2012 with 197 participants and the final workshop and certificate awarding ceremony is scheduled to take place from 3-5 July 2013.

CHALLENGES 24.Mobilization of additional funding in view of the initial funding ending 30th June 2013 is the key challenge. Only one partner (Government of Finland) has indicated readiness to provide additional funding and is calling for additional partners come on board.

WAY FORWARD 25.Efforts will be made to mobilize funds to expand the project to other AU geographical regions

V. dotAFRICA

OBJECTIVE 26.The project aims to establish dotAfrica as a continental Top-Level Domain for use by organizations, businesses and individuals with guidance from African Internet agencies.

STATUS 27.The status of implementation is as follows:

 Selected and signed an agreement with Uniforum to operate DotAfrica on behalf of the African Union. Accordingly, on behalf of the AU, Uniforum has applied to the Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to administer and operate dotAFRICA top-level domain.  A Steering Committee (SteerCom) has been established to provide leadership and oversight over both the application process and the launch of the dotAfrica TLD, as well as to provide a vehicle through which the broader 7 African community may participate in the dotAfrica project. The SteerCom is also the precursor to the dotAfrica Foundation that will oversee various developmental projects and initiatives relating to the African Internet and domain name industries and ICT in general. Steering Committee (SteerCom) is built on a multi-stakeholder model and comprises a diverse grouping of individuals and organizations that participate on a voluntary basis.  Support letters have been secured from 42 countries which is 79% of the countries in Africa. ICANN's application process required support from a minimum of 60% of governments for applications for geographic TLDs..  In April 2013, during ICANN 46 in Beijing, the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) issued a unanimous "GAC Objection advice” to the ICANN Board that the DotConnectAfrica (DCA) Trust application for dotAfrica (not endorsed by the AU) should be rejected. In other words, ICANN should delegate dotAfrica (.Africa) to the AU-endorsed applicant (UNIFORUM ZACR).  The dotAfrica (.Africa) Steering Committee has developed a Reserved Name Policy which will be posted for public comments before end of May 2013.  The policy provides African member states and other African stakeholders with the opportunity to submit Reserved Name Lists (RNLs) to the dotAfrica (.Africa) registry operator (UNIFORUM ZACR) during the Pre-Sunrise phase, likely to be July-October 2013. Names to be reserved are those regarded as important, sensitive or offensive (of geographic, cultural or national heritage)  When a name is entered into the RNL, the registry will ensure that the name is not available for registration, other than through defined redemption processes as articulated in the Reserve Name Policy.

CHALLENGES 28.The key challenges are:  Successful delegation of dotAfrica by ICANN to the AU sponsored applicant  Sensitisation of African governments and other stakeholders about the need to reserve names that are of significance and value to Africa under dotAfrica and other new TLDs

WAY FORWARD 29.The way forward is as follows:  Pursue the delegation of dotAFRICA to Uniforum by ICANN and develop policies for the administration of the continental top level domain.  Assist African countries to draw up RNLs and submit them to the relevant Registries.

VI. PAN AFRICAN E-NETWORK (PAeN) OBJECTIVE 30.The objective is to establish a Pan-African telecommunications network by satellite and fibre optics to provide Tele-medicine and Tele-education and diplomatic communications (VVIP) services to all Member States of the African Union.

STATUS 31.The implementation status is as follows:  The project agreement had been signed by 88% of the Member States of the Union, that is, by 48 Member States including South Sudan

8  Six Remaining countries (South Africa, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Algeria and Tunisia) are yet to sign the agreement;  Satellite HUB Earth Station in Dakar is Operational since April 2008;  Up to 150 VSAT equipment has been installed and fully operational.  More than 8000 Graduate and post graduate Students are pursuing their education in different Indian universities through the network  3000 medical consultations has been made in two years during which three African live have been saved  1650 Continuous Medical Sessions have been conducted for more than 5000 Doctors nurses.

CHALLENGES 32.The handover of the project to the African Union is due in 2014 and the required resources have not been mobilized to manage the takeover constitute the major concern.

WAY FORWARD 33.We will be focusing on the management of the network after the handover and transfer of the VVIP component of the PAeN to the AUC VSAT e-Governance Network.

VII. CONVENTION ON CYBER LEGISLATION:

OBJECTIVE 34.The objective is to develop a convention on cyber legislation based on the Continent’s needs and which adheres to the legal and regulatory requirements on electronic transactions, cyber security, and personal data protection.

STATUS 35.The status is the following:  The Draft AU Convention on Cybersecurity (DAUCC) has been translated into AU 4 languages (English, French, Portuguese and Arabic).

 The DAUCC has been approved by the 22nd Ordinary session of the AU Executive Council (January 2013).

CHALLENGE 36.Lengthy adoption and ratification process of the convention remains the key challenge.

WAY FORWARD 37.The way forward is as follows:  Legal validation by the AU Ministers of Justice Conference scheduled in October 2013  Final formatting  Adoption of the convention during AU Summit in January 2014.  Ratification process to start in 2014.

VIII. POSTAL SECTOR PROJECTS

OBJECTIVE 9 38.In order to increase the role of the sector in the realization of development programs in the continent, the CITMC adopted the Action Plan for the Development of Postal Sector in Africa as framework of harmonization of standards, policies and legislations.

The Action Plan includes, among others, the e-Post project and the following studies:  Elaborate Guidelines on the provision of the Universal Postal Service (UPS) for the harmonization of postal policies and regulations  Formulate Strategies for the financial inclusion of Low-Income Populations in Africa  Elaborate a Study on the Development of Postal Master Plan  Elaborate Guidelines for Addressing System in Africa.  Elaborate guidelines of postal e-services

STATUS 39.The station of implementation is as follows:  E-post which to contribute to the modernization of the postal sector: The pilot phase of the project has being designed.

 Elaborate Guidelines on the provision of the Universal Postal Service (UPS) for the harmonization of postal policies and regulations aiming proposing to Member States of the African Union a sustainable Universal Postal Service, viable financially and able to support socio-economic development, through making available a relevant model of UPS and related relevant guidelines: The study has been completed and the report is being disseminated.

 Formulate Strategies for the financial inclusion of Low-Income Populations in Africa aiming to increase the access to financial services for low-income populations: The study has been completed and the report is being disseminated.

 Elaborate a Study on the Development of Postal Master Plan: Procurement completed

 Elaborate Guidelines for Addressing System in Africa: Study completed at 80%.

CHALLENGES 40.The key challenges are:  Insufficiency and unavailability of financial resources notably for the master plan and e-post.  Difficulty to get adequate right consultancy services firms notably African firms.

WAY FORWARD 41.Efforts will be made to mobilise additional financial resources to fill the existing gaps

IX. African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF)

10 OBJECTIVE 42.AfIGF, as platform for an inclusive multilateral, multi-stakeholder and multilingual discussion on issues pertinent to the Internet in Africa in general and Internet Governance issues in particular, aims to fostering the sustainability, robustness, security, stability, and development of the Internet in Africa.

STATUS 43.The status of the implementation of the project is as follows:

 Five regional initiatives are ongoing:

 West Africa Internet Governance Forum (WAIGF),  East Africa Internet Governance Forum (EAIGF),  Forum de Gouvernance de l'Internet en Afrique Centrale (FGI-CA),  North Africa Internet Governance Forum (NAIGF)  Southern Africa Internet Governance Forum (SAIGF).  Terms of Reference discussed and adopted by the AfIGF participants in Cairo, Egypt – October 2012  AfIGF secretariat set on the basis of the model of the global IGF secretariat and hosted by the United Nations Department of Economic Affairs (UNDESA),  First face-to-face meeting held in Cairo, Egypt, from October 2 to 4, 2012  Workshop at the 7th Internet Governance Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, on .Africa

CHALLENGES

The main issues facing AfIGF and the Internet Governance in general in Africa relate to the need for policymakers to get more involved on the IG front. Presently, the process is driven by the civil society with minimal participation of Government and the private sector. This state of affairs leads to the weak participation of member countries in the various IG meetings held in Africa and elsewhere, including the first AfIGF conference.

WAY FORWARD 44.The way forward consists of:

 2nd AfIGF to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 11-13 September 2013.  AfIGF at the 8th IGF in Bali, Indonesia, 21-25 October 2013 on Building Bridges

45.As per the Khartoum ministerial recommendations on IG, member countries are expected to put in place national IGFs and fully participate in the activities of AfIGF

X. AFRICAN ICT WEEK AND ANNUAL FORUM

OBJECTIVE 46.The objective is too commemorate the African ICT Week (AICTW), provided from the declaration of the first African Union ministerial conference on communication and information technologies (CITMC-1) adopted 20th April 2006 in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt and deriving from the WSIS Tunis commitment.

11 STATUS

47.A new framework of the event has been drafted to take into account the CITMC-4 declaration that consist of requesting from AUC and NPCA to set up a yearly African forum during which all the policy makers will interact with the private sector, operators and industry in coordination with relevant partners and stakeholders. Therefore, a Concept Note of the new African Internet/ICT Week (AICTiW) has been drafted. The event will involve the 8th EuroAfrica Forum on ICT research and will welcome Workshops, Conferences and thematic breakout sessions on Internet/ICT issues (cyber security, domain name issues, spam and Internet exchanges).

CHALLENGES 48.A technical support is needed to second the AUC and NPCA staff for the logistic, marketing and organizational issue in order to success in the celebration of the AICTiW and Annual Forum.

WAY FORWARD 49.The way forward is to start the preparation process of the African Internet/ICT Week within the framework of the Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the OAU/AU.