By:Nyima Sillah
Honorable Ebrima Sillah, minister of Information, Communication and Infrastructure has called for a comprehensive consolidative approach to address high cost of internet in the country.
Speaking at The Gambia’s 7th National Internet Governance Forum held at Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center in Bijilo on Tuesday, he urged the forum “to critically look at the issues at hand in other to provide tangible options that the government of the Gambia and all relevant stake holders can take to bring down the cost of internet and also make accessibility more possible for our rural dwellers.”
“It is evident that ICT in general and broadband in particular contributes substantially to growth of the national development processes especially the GDP and towards poverty eradication by improving access with equity. Adding that, a study conducted by the World Bank revealed that a 10% increase in broadband penetration accounts for 1.38 percentage increase per capita GDP growth in developing economy.
“The government of the Gambia has in the past decade lead the institutionalization and the establishment of landmark and game changing projects in the Gambia, ICT sector as a sign in critical enabler file of our national development plan (NDP) which seeks to transform the Gambia into a digital nation and create a modern information society,” he added.
According to him, it is important to note that in other to break the digital device it is pertinent for the country to look into internet resilient and affordability for our citizens as covid-19 pandemic has definitely portrait to all of us that been online is no longer a luxury but a necessity for all citizens.
“This session is not only timely but act as it seeks to provide the platform where the internet anchor system in the Gambia will not only discus and share experiences on the theme and sub themes but also possibly discus digital measures to put in place, to fight the pandemic,” Honorable Sillah expressed.
Meanwhile, he assured of his government commitment, support and collaboration in the digital issues in the Gambia.
