Chairperson, hon members, the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee endorsed the Nepad broadband network for Eastern and Southern Africa as a Nepad flagship project in 2003.
The project, developed under the e-Africa commission, is a project that seeks to connect African countries to them and to the rest of the world via a terrestrial and submarine network system. This project is a truly African project that collaborates between 23 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. It is a public-private partnership between the governments of the region and private African telecom companies.
The Nepad network will be governed by a set of principles, two of which I would like to mention. The first is that there shall be nondiscriminatory access. By this I mean that the cost of access to the network is the same for owners as well as nonowners and this will be irrespective of the size or wealth of the company requesting such access. The second is that all African telecommunications companies in the region will have an opportunity to invest the same amount irrespective of their wealth or their size.
A protocol was developed that would govern the network. This protocol has been adopted under the auspices of the African Union. It is this protocol, known as the Protocol on Policy and Regulatory Framework for Nepad ICT Broadband Infrastructure for Eastern and Southern Africa that I put before the House for ratification today.
The protocol provides for a common framework for the provision of cross- regional and cross-border high quality, high speed and reliable electronic communications at an affordable price to the end-user. The protocol contributes to the development and promotion of the economic, social and cultural integration of the African continent. It ensures African ownership, which will promote security over the network with minimal non- African interference. It is a private-public partnership between the governments of the region and the private African telecommunications companies, thus advancing the spirit of cohesion, partnership and working together.
After receiving presentations and engaging in discussions around the protocol, it is the committee's submission that the Protocol on Policy and Regulatory Framework for Nepad ICT Broadband Infrastructure for Eastern and Southern Africa be ratified by this august House.
I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.