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"Brains behind .africa"
reports Diplomat East Africa, on account of Bekele's work
Diplomat East Africa, a premium political and economic monthly news magazines of East Africa, unveils Bekele's plan for a digital Africa, including the chronicle behind the endorsement process, the birth of "generation.africa", and the benefits of the dotafrica project to the continent. ___________________________________________________________
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Nairobi, Kenya: Diplomat East Africa's Jane Mwangi discusses with Sophia Bekele her plans for connecting Africa towards a Digital Africa and more...
Responding to Mwangi's question to the specific endorsement p rocess for DotConnectAfrica initiative, namely the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Sophia stated, "I first approached the ECA in 2006 and then finally got our endorsement in 2008. In fact, as ECA also have a mandate to coordinate their policies with AU, they assisted in identifying the appropriate unit for us at the AU to purse the same. We then approached AU, the Director of Infrastructure at the time and submitted our proposal. Concurrently, in 2007 we submitted our dotafrica proposal for support with ITU in Geneva and the African office in Ethiopia. ITU then turned over the proposal for the AU to do a study. Discussions took place with the African Union Commission (AUC) and eventually recommendations were put forward to the Chairman's office for support, resulting in a letter endorsing the project by the Chairman's office in August 2009."
As to why African should look forward to the birth of the 'dotAfrica generation', Bekele said "We created a theme,"generation.africa" so to inspire the youth who are the next generation innovators and trustees of Africa. This growth would give the dotafrica generation a platform from which to address the global internet community as a unified voice for the promotion of Africa's interest," Bekele said. Full Press release: http://prlog.org/11041902
Click here for link for the Diplomat article
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