South Sudan is hopeful that a new e-government pan-African project will boost tele-education and tele-medicine.
The new Pan-Africa e-Network Project is being funded by the Indian government and aims to develop numerous projects using technology and e-government as the basis for infrastructure development across the African continent.
Vimal Wakhlu, MD for Telecommunication Consultants India (TCIL), said in a press statement over the weekend that “equipment for the project has already been dispatched to South Sudan for installation.”
Wakhlu added that South Sudan will “soon benefit from the project since it is the world’s newest country.”
He added that the basic objectives of the Pan-Africa e-Network Project were “to help build the capacity of the African countries by imparting quality education to students from some of the Indian universities.”
According to the project’s details, the Indian government is spending more than $115 million on the enterprise, which it said will also cover “Continuing Medical Education (CME) to practicing doctors and nursing staff with a view to update their knowledge and skills.”
All will be based on boosting the ICT and technological base in Africa, the Indian government has said.
Africa Union member states inked the agreement with Telecommunication Consultants India Limited (TCIL) with its hub station at Dakar, Senegal. It has been working since 2008, but is now moving eastward into South Sudan.
Mohammad Awad