Microsoft Technology, Partnerships, Investments to Drive Economic Growth That Helps Build Competitive Africa
African leaders convene with Bill Gates and Bill Clinton to discuss technology's role in Africa's competitive future at Microsoft Government Leaders Forum.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — 10 July 2006 — Microsoft Corp along with the Honourable Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, deputy president of South Africa, today opened the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum (GLF) Africa 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa. The event brings together top government and business leaders from across the continent and around the world, including four African presidents and former US President Bill Clinton, to discuss Africa's global competitiveness and how to reach the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDG). During the two-day event Microsoft will highlight progress on how information and communication technology (ICT) and public-private partnerships can accelerate Africa's drive for economic growth, including today's announcement of a new agreement with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
"Technology has touched millions of lives and played a significant role in fostering economic development in Africa," said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. "Microsoft's goal is to work in close partnership with governments and non-governmental organisations from across Africa to help strengthen the role that technology plays in accelerating social and economic development. This Government Leaders Forum is a great opportunity for leaders from the public and private sectors in Africa to discuss the critical issues they face and create a roadmap for moving forward together."
Public/Private Partnership for Economic Growth
Microsoft has a history of partnering with governments and inter-governmental organisations (IGOs) to support local economic growth, capacity building and development in Africa. The new strategic collaboration announced today between Microsoft and UNIDO will promote innovative uses of ICT that support entrepreneurship and help promote investment and create business opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Africa. The two organisations will pool expertise and resources to support entrepreneurs and SMEs in developing countries through access to information and business support services and delivering skills training for business and ICT through community-based technology centres (CTCs).
"SMEs are the driving force behind the creation of new and better jobs, as well as the force behind stimulating competitiveness and innovation" said Dr Kandeh Yumkella, director-general of UNIDO. "Through this cooperation with Microsoft, we aim to stimulate the growth and progress of these important business owners in Africa, a key way to help foster a thriving knowledge-based economy that creates wealth and brings down poverty levels."
Supporting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals
This type of public-private partnership approach to economic development is reflected in the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed to by countries and leading development institutions around the world to promote a comprehensive and coordinated approach to tackling many problems in developing countries. Microsoft supports the MDGs by focusing investment and resources in Africa on education programmes and public-private partnerships to develop the ICT infrastructure and grow local industries.
"Microsoft shares the United Nations MDGs' call for cooperation with the private sector in an effort to harness technology for social and economic progress for Africa," said Dr Cheick Diarra, chairman of Microsoft Africa. "We look forward to continuing this exciting work across Africa to develop innovative programmes and IT solutions that are designed to improve services for citizens, increase IT access and create economic opportunity."
Affordable Solutions in Local Languages
To encourage the growth of knowledge-based workforces and help a broad cross-section of people around the world access computer technology, Microsoft's Local Language Program (LLP) localises Microsoft® Windows® and Office into local languages. In East Africa alone, the more than 100 million people who speak Kiswahili that may have wanted to use computers but faced a language barrier can now work in their native language. The localisation effort was led by a team of local linguistics experts who collaborated to create a glossary of more than 3,000 Kiswahili words for common computer terms. This glossary formed the basis of the Language Interface Pack that then allowed developers to create, test and fine-tune the application for the Local Language Program.
"We regard Microsoft's local language programme as groundbreaking — to assist users with an interface in the languages of their choice and regard this as another important step towards actualising multilingualism. We look forward to a good working relationship with Microsoft and its local language programme — our partners in the development of functional computing and language skills," said Professor Cynthia Marivate, CEO of PanSALB.
To date, the programme has launched Language Interface Packs in Afrikaans, IsiZulu, Kiswahili and Setswana, and has now enabled more than 150 million people on the continent to interact with technology in their own language. In addition, Microsoft is working with local and regional partners on plans to develop and release even more languages in the next year, including Amharic (Ethiopia), Hausa and Yoruba (Nigeria), Igbo, IsiXhosa and Sesotho sa Leboa (South Africa), Kinyarwanda (Rwanda), and Wolof (Senegal),.
Providing Access to Education and Skills Training
A key emphasis of the MDGs is to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. Microsoft's Partners in Learning programme supports primary education through investments, teacher training and capacity building. Through Partners in Learning, Microsoft has invested in curriculum development training to support the creation of materials in local languages and is supporting IT academy centres for teacher training throughout the continent. Most importantly, the programme helps fund local teacher training colleges in ICT skills delivery and integration. Through these efforts, the programme has already had a positive impact on more than 21 million students across Africa.
In addition to primary schooling, adult education in ICT skills is also very important in fostering the growth of local software economies and increasing opportunities. In collaboration with 40 NGOs, IGOs and 900 local partners, Microsoft's Unlimited Potential programme focuses on adult learning and training and has impacted over 700,000 people in 43 countries across Africa and the Middle East. To date, through partnerships with multilateral organisations, governments and the private sector, the programme has helped to establish more than 1,000 CTCs that provide access to information and services to more than 200,000 young people, women and elderly.
The Unlimited Potential has helped organisations such as the QuadPara Association of South Africa, which provides training in skills for quadriplegics, paraplegics and the disabled population; and AjialCom, a youth-empowerment initiative in Morocco that is establishing Youth Access Centres aimed at disadvantaged young people aged between 12 and 25. Two trainers in each centre offer assistance and training to 200 young people per month per centre.
In support of these education efforts and other programmes, Microsoft has engaged in important partnerships with organisations such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development, United Nations Development Program Southern Africa Capacity Initiative, US Agency for International Development, Worldlinks, Réseau Africain de Formation à Distance, Learnthings, Kenya Institute of Education, International Literacy Institute and the Commonwealth of Learning, to name a few. Through this partnership model, education programmes and events such as the Government Leaders Forum, the company hopes to have a real impact on helping to reach the MDGs.
Additional information of today's announcements is available on Microsoft's EMEA Press Centre website at http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre and at the virtual press room http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/glfafrica/default.mspx.
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