Chad: emergence via the information superhighway

The first International Information and Communication Technology Fair (SITIC), held in N’Djamena from Tuesday 9 to Friday 12 September 2014, will leave a lasting mark. Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno pulled off a real feat by bringing together a large number of African leaders and major players from diplomacy and international institutions.

At the opening ceremony at the 15 January Palace, the official stand featured the then chairman of the African Union, Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz; Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan; the first vice-president of Sudan; the first vice-president of Equatorial Guinea; Benin’s Minister of Communication; the entire diplomatic corps accredited in N’Djamena; and representatives of institutions such as the International Organisation of La Francophonie, the International Telecommunication Union and the Economic Community of Central African States. This high-level line-up reflected the credit given to this first major ICT crossroads — and above all to the innovators present.

Beyond the opportunities offered by the exhibitions, the exchange of ideas and experience and the many partnerships forged, SITIC was the ideal vehicle for the Chadian head of state’s vision: to make Chad a global ICT hub. It is a vision encompassing a wide range of brilliant innovations in a world that has become a global village, explained Hassan Sylla Bakari, Minister of Communication, government spokesman and chairman of the organising committee.

From all the speeches surrounding President Idriss Deby Itno’s address, a shared vision emerged: the central place of ICT in the quest for development and emergence. Chad was on the right track — all the more so as the flawless organisation, the strong turnout of ICT businesses and the quality of the discussions showed that this was no mere fair given over to festivities.

The project taking shape is the fruit of a great dream. Won over by the president’s dream, the Secretary-General of the ITU unreservedly ranked Idriss Deby Itno among the great men — those who dream and have the courage to share their dream with their people. “From that moment, a shared dream becomes a vision,” said Hamadoun Touré.

Isolation is clearly no longer possible. President Idriss Deby Itno summed it up by concluding that “all states have become interdependent, and are therefore bound to live together and work in synergy for a better world”. It is a kind of chain of solidarity made easier by ICT, he said, which has reshaped and simplified exchanges, making them smoother and more flexible. Chad cannot, and would in no way wish to, stay out of this dynamic.

The official line is that the country is committed to contributing actively to technological progress beyond Chad’s borders — as shown by SITIC, and above all by the creation of an African Centre for Information Technology in N’Djamena.