This provides reliable and affordable access to information. The public sector alone cannot fulfill the investment needs for this rapidly expanding sector. This will have to become a shared responsibility through the building of effective partnerships between the public sector and the private sector. Such partnerships have the potential to develop a climate for sustainable investment in infrastructure that guarantees good returns on investment, while at the same time closing the information gap. For the global players ignoring a potential market of 160 million people in Southern Africa can surely not be a viable business strategy .
Critical challenge is to establish a consistency of rules across the region.
Three years ago SADC heads of state and government adopted a Protocol on Transport and Communications. Last year the Council of Ministers adopted Model policy and legislation. We now need to move to implement a three tier separation of power with government responsible for national policy framework, independent regulators responsible for licensing a multiplicity of service providers in a competitive environment. SADC should look towards creating complimentary infrastructure capable of interconnecting with members states and setting the norms and standards. The management of common resources such as a regional frequency plan is essential to the creation of an attractive environment for investment.