The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is very pleased to announce its sixth Regional Telecommunications Exhibition and Forum for Africa, ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2004, to be held in Cairo, Egypt, from 4 to 8 May 2004.

The Forum at ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2004, under the general theme: “ADVANTAGE AFRICA”, will examine and discuss telecommunications policy, development, economic and investment issues, as well as their technology and applications aspects. The event will also include a Youth Forum. Recognising the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in bringing about economic development, African leaders have identified telecommunications development as a high priority area. Many African countries have embarked on efforts to establish the necessary conditions for the deployment of efficient and affordable telecommunications networks, in particular, through policies that promote investment and competition in the sector. Nevertheless, with a total teledensity of 55 lines for every thousand people and an Internet penetration rate of only 8.5 users per thousand, the challenges facing Africa are enormous.

Despite these difficulties, advances in technology and the increasing affordability of telecommunications solutions continue to hold great promise for the development of telecommunications on the continent. Africa is poised for a rapid growth in mobile communications and Internet. Wireless technologies in particular are making a significant contribution in this respect. African countries now represent some of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world with the number of mobile users in some countries rapidly overtaking those using fixed-lines.

The ITU TELECOM Forum Team is pleased to welcome you to the official ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2004 Forum pages.

While it is now too late to submit any proposal for inclusion in the ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2004 Forum programme, since the deadline for Submission of abstracts was 20 October 2003, you might be interested in accessing the Forum topics of the Call for Abstracts.

For your information, the Notification of Authors is on-line as well as the Programme Overview, the Summarized Forum programme and the Forum Registration Form.

If you need to receive more information on this Forum, don’t hesitate to contact the ITU TELECOM Forum Team. We will be delighted to answer your questions directly.

We wish you a fruitful participation in the Forum at ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2004.