The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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African Connection

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African Connection is an African initiative and platform to facilitate, harness, and be a catalyst for improvement of connectivity within and between African countries, and between Africa and the rest of the world so as to make Africans equal partners and active participants in the knowledge age and global information society. The primary aim is to add value to existing initiatives and programmes, facilitate collaboration and synchronization and disseminate information and best practices. The AC acts as a platform that fosters synergy and facilitates the creation of larger markets. It serves as a forum for discussing and addressing the challenges of connectivity and development of a formidable information industry in Africa. The AC programmes seek to reach out to all stakeholders in Africa and their ICT development and investment partners.

African ministers responsible for communications developed the African Connection Blue Print in 1998 and restructured PATU into ATU in 1999. The AC was subsequently adopted by the ATU Plenipotentiary Conference as a special independent programme under ATU governed by a ministerial Board of Trustees. The AC programme was endorsed by the OAU Summit in 2000 and has recently been adopted under NEPAD as a "technical back-stop" for the planned e-Africa Commission. A small secretariat to kick-start the initiative was created in November 2000hosted in South Africa.
Communication Strategies

Key strategies include consensus building activities through workshops, on-line interventions and information dissemination through the AC website, positive intervention and sourcing of resources for various country and regional programs, execution of pilot projects for scoping and scaling, and contributions to institutional development at country, sub-regional and regional levels.

Development Issues

Technology.

Key Points

The initiative was based on the need to address in a focused, synchronized and collaborative manner all issues that determine the accelerated achievement of total connectivity in Africa where the latter is defined to include harmonised and facilitative policies and regulatory frameworks; physical, technological and pricing connectedness of ICT; ICT applications and content; and all areas of ICT (ie. telecommunications, broadcasting and information technologies). The initiative was also based on the need to harness and promotethe development of shared vision for ICT and Digital Opportunities for Africa. It will promote the acceptance and development of ICT in all African communities as a cross-cutting tool for all human activities, and as a sustainable avenue for enhancing Africa's inclusion in globalisation.


Some areas of activity to date including workshops and projects to:

  • Collect, disseminate and promote best practices and lessons from worst practices in ICT for Africa
  • Develop, disseminate and promote use of various toolkits (e.g. licensing of new services/technologies, USA/Rural Connectivity, e-cities, etc) and
  • Develop and promote innovative funding schemes especially for SMME development and participation in ICT
  • Coordinate, synchronise and promote rural and other connectivity initiatives
  • Participate in developing, dissemination and promotion of best practices in HRD and Capacity Building (e.g. Harmonized Curriculums and Networking)
  • Develop the AC website as continental information base
  • Promote the creation of private sector partnerships forums with other regions of the world
  • Facilitate dialogue and interaction in African local content development
  • Mobilise partnerships between public, private and civil society sectors within Africa.
Partners

SADC (SATCC & TRASA), ECOWAS/WAEMU, UNECA, COMESA, ATU, WORLD BANK, INFODEV, EU, DFID, SWISSFUND, DBSA, HARVARD, MIT, MARKLE FOUNDATION, USAID, WEF.

Sources

Letter from Aida Opoku-Mensah to The Communication Initiative February 19, 2002.