· Where does Connectivity Africa come from?

Connectivity Africa was announced during the Kananaskis summit as part of Canada’s response to the G8 Africa Action Plan. It is one of three initiatives in support of the work of the Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force), an international coalition of government, industry and civil society organizations, successfully led by Canada during the past year to help bridge the global Digital Divide.


· I thought it was called the Centre for Connectivity for Africa?

While the initiative was originally called the "Centre for Connectivity in Africa", the name was shortened to Connectivity Africa to make it clear that the initiative was not setting out to establish a new institution in Africa but rather to support the work of existing African institutions. Connectivity Africa will operate more like a network rather than a centre working closely with other ICT initiatives in Africa.


· What is the difference between the Acacia and Connectivity Africa?

IDRC’s Acacia initiative has been investing in the ability of African communities to apply information and communication technologies (ICTs) to their own social and economic development since 1997. Connectivity Africa will act to complement the work of Acacia, often working together as a team to address ICT challenges. Connectivity Africa will have more of an explicitly technological focus in comparison to Acacia’s more social science oriented approach. In addition, Connectivity Africa will take a more regional and/or continental focus as compared to Acacia’s focus country approach. This is in line with Connectivity Africa’s goal of supporting NEPAD’s regional integration objectives.


· Where is Connectivity Africa based ?

The work of Connectivity Africa will be carried out through each of IDRC’s regional offices in Cairo, Dakar, Nairobi and South Africa.


· What is the role of IDRC and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Connectivity Africa?

Connectivity Africa is being implemented by IDRC in partnership with ECA. Day to day management of the initiative will be carried out by the manager and his team but the strategic direction of Connectivity Africa will be directed by a Steering Committee co-chaired by IDRC and ECA. Connectivity Africa will be implemented within the context of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) framework pioneered by ECA.


· How does Connectivity Africa relate to other African ICT initiatives?

Connectivity Africa is committed to working closely with other African ICT initiatives including DFID’s CATIA project, the French government’s ADEN network, and others. Further, Connectivity Africa will be an active member in the Partnership for ICTs in Africa (PICTA) group and will actively support collaboration among ICT initiatives in Africa.


· What kinds of project does Connectivity Africa fund?

Connectivity Africa funds projects in the following areas :

Innovation in the use of ICTs

African Regional ICT Futures

Research and development in African ICTs

Partnership and convergence

Stay tuned for more details on this question.