Egypt, represented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), participated in a Validation Workshop by the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) on the “White Paper on Accessibility and Connectivity Best Practices and Cooperation Framework to Facilitate Access to Submarine Cables by all African Countries, particularly Landlocked Countries”. The workshop was held on March 20, online.
 
The workshop aims to provide an opportunity to review the White Paper, consider for adoption and implementation the proposed cooperation framework to facilitate access to submarine cables for African countries, particularly landlocked countries, and address the needs of all African countries.
 
The White Paper has several objectives, including establishing an Internet connectivity and infrastructure status, establishing a regulatory status, developing best practices to promote Internet connectivity and reduce the digital divide, and developing a regional cooperation and coordination framework to promote access to submarine cables for African countries. This is in addition to developing best practices to support the development of Internet connectivity in landlocked countries.
 
 
It is worth mentioning that ATU was established in 1977 as a telecom-specialized agency. Its mandate is to promote the rapid development of info-communications in Africa to achieve universal access and full inter-country connectivity. MCIT has always been keen to secure a seat at ATU Administrative Council, where it has the opportunity to participate in designing the future plan of the Union to actively contribute to the development of the ICT industry in Africa and encourage the transformation of the continent to a knowledge-based society.