OPENING STATEMENT

BY

H.E. SHEIKH PROFESSOR ALHAJI DR. YAHYA A J J JAMMEH

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA

ON THE OCCASION OF

THE 11th MEETING OF THE RASCOM ASSEMBLY OF PARTIES

7-8, DECEMBER 2009

BANJUL, THE GAMBIA

Your Excellency, the Vice President

Honourable Speaker of the National Assembly

Chairman of the RASCOM Assembly of Parties,

Honourable Ministers,

Director General/CEO of RASCOM,

Excellencies,

Honourable Parliamentarians

Venerable Religious leaders

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

All other protocols duly observed,

I greet you all in the name of Allah the Almighty, the Most Merciful and the Benevolent. On behalf of the people and Government of the Republic of The Gambia, and on my own behalf, I have the honour and pleasure to welcome you all to the smiling coast, The Gambia, for the 11 th Ordinary Meeting of the RASCOM Assembly of Parties.

Mr. Chairman, I am indeed gratified and deeply honoured again on behalf of the Government and people of The Gambia to register our sincere appreciation for the hosting of this augurs assembly.

You will all agree with me that since the inception of RASCOM, my Government, had rendered unflinching support and effort to the aims and objectives of the RASCOM in the implementation of a satellite network, solely dedicated to address the existing gap of Africa's telecommunication infrastructure. Africans have now realized that such an infrastructure, considered as the most needed, is the vehicle for keeping pace with current trend of ICT development and to position Africa as a strategic partner in the global information and communications landscape.

Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, It would be recalled that during my inaugural speech on the occasion of the seventh ordinary session of the Assembly of African Union Heads of States and Governments summit held in Banjul, from 1-2 July 2006, I intimated that the conference of Heads of States of the African Union, held in Sirte, Libya, in 2005 endorsed the Pan African Union Satellite System being implemented by RASCOM to provide complete connectivity for the entire continent. I also emphasized the fact that the system will serve as a social, political and economic tool to help buttress our integration efforts and that there was real need for all African Heads of States and Governments present at that session held in Banjul to ensure the successful implementation of the venture by making it a top priority.

Mr. Chairman, having our own satellite system is a sine qua non in the control of our own affairs – leveraging as an investment location in the global business competitive environment.

The launch of our RASCOM Star 1 satellite on 21 st December 2007, strikingly demonstrated the might and pride of this great continent as a shining fruition towards Africa's integration. I have attached high priority to such joint ventures for bolstering Africa's political and economic potentials as a unified force.

The Iaunching of this Satellite is a dream come true which marks another milestone development in our quest to emancipate our continent from centuries of foreign hegemony and merciless exploitation and marginalization.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to reiterate how proud I am that the 11 th meeting of the RASCOM Assembly of Parties is taking place here in Banjul, after the successful historic launch of the first Pan African satellite.

Although, I have been reliably informed that there were some technical hitches after its successful launch. I believe, that was just one of those experiences - when a child starts moving the first steps. I am very happy to understand that the satellite went commercially operational in August 2008 and the very first customer on the satellite is the Pan-African e-Network sponsored by the Government of India under the auspices of AU, which will connect all the 53 African countries to provide telemedicine, tele-education and for VVIP connectivity. The replacement satellite I am also told will be launched between July and September 2010 or even earlier. This is really an African dream coming true!!

I have also been informed that the under seventeen FIFA World Cup Football championship that was recently hosted in Africa by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in November 2009 was using the RASCOM satellite system to broadcast this continental and global social and cultural event. RASCOM is certainly a cornerstone for African integration being demonstrated in a practical manner!!!

Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to blow the whistle now to alert all of us present here today that one or two satellites by RASCOM are not enough to meet Africa's ICT requirements today and tomorrow. RASCOM should be defined by the fleet of more satellites to be launched. And knowing that Satellite technology is a capital-intensive venture; it is time for me to call upon all of you again, to demonstrate and exert more political commitment and solidarity for the mobilization funds among all African administrations for the achievement of this noble objectives of RASCOM.

My country increased its shareholding in 2008 and is committed to make additional investment to increase its share capital in RASCOM and the amount will be communicated to RASCOM soon. This will in turn strengthen the shareholding of RASCOM in the share capital of RascomStar-QAF. I therefore, urge all of us here today to commit ourselves in increasing our investment shares in RASCOM. I have the fervent hope and conviction that the various delegations will be making similar declarations during this meeting on the amount of investments shares they intend to remit into RASCOM's operating capital in 2010.

Mr. Chairman, I believe there are innovative ways of providing the necessary funds required by RASCOM to meet its financial needs as it implements the mission of African connectivity and accessibility especially in rural areas at affordable costs. I am confident that during these two days you will be looking at some of these innovative ways of responding positively to the RASCOM call for funds. Let me introduce you to one of these innovative ways where funds could be tapped to meet the financial requirements of RASCOM from its member states - the Universal Access Funds (USF), which I know most African countries have instituted within their various telecommunications administrations.

The primary objective of these funds, I am told, is to service rural and underserved areas with ICTs and one of the key objectives of RASCOM is to meet ICT requirements in rural areas in Africa. Then why not use part of these funds to finance the activities of RASCOM.

I leave the question to you the experts to brainstorm and come out with achievable recommendation by the end of this meeting on the best way forward.

I came to understand that the funds for the first RASCOM Pan African satellite system were mostly mobilized in Africa, which is a significant step in taking charge of our destiny.

I am also delighted to inform this augurs Assembly that the Republic of The Gambia is hosting one of the Network Operations Centres (NOC) on the RASCOM system. Funds for this project, I understand have already been acquired and currently being disbursed. On our side, the land to host the NOC has also been allocated to RASCOM by my government. Therefore, I would like to implore RASCOM that the civil construction works on The Gambian NOC need to commence soon. We need to accelerate our implementation of RASCOM projects otherwise competition from other satellites may dwindle our mission and future ambitions.

I therefore expect that with your full support, buttressed by strong political will and commitment among all African countries, we will do everything within our power to ensure that the necessary funds required by RASCOM are fully mobilized for the launching of more satellites.

When the RASCOM satellites and their associated ground network infrastructure facilities are all in place, the question of utilization by all African telecommunications operators to provide ICT services to end-users in our various countries should be a matter of priority as charity begins at home. This will not only make the RASCOM project viable but it will also enable the project to be sustainable. In order to make the services available to our peoples in Africa, I am urging all national policy and regulatory authorities in Africa to facilitate the rapid deployment and use of the RASCOM Pan African satellite system. There is no privatized telecommunications entity in any African country where the Government is not a stakeholder, therefore, we as leaders in Africa should encourage our national telecommunications operators to make use of the RASCOM satellite system to provide services to end-users. Africa has to cater for its own interest in the globalised economy which is made up of the ‘'haves'' and the ‘'have-nots''.

And to RASCOM, in as much as I call on African countries to use your services as first choice, you must be ready to intensify your commercial activities through aggressive marketing and publicity of your products and services. Your services have to be affordable and to meet the expectations of customers with the necessary quality of service, reliability and support services.

With these few remarks, Mr. Chairman, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, please allow me to conclude by welcoming you all once again…

Let peace and serenity, God's own gift to The Gambia be upon you.

I now have the singular honour to declare the 11th Assembly of Parties of RASCOM open and I wish you all fruitful deliberations.

Welcome!