A number of entrepreneurs, innovators and key players in the ICT and business industries from India and Kenya met as from yesterday in our country to discuss business and investments. This is the Indo-Africa ICT Expo we mentioned before. Standard Media say the number of those in attendance goes well over two thousand, with more than three hundred companies represented.
The Expo was opened yesterday (Thursday 1st September) Mr. Joe Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of ICT alongside his Indian counterpart, Minister of State for Communications, Mr. Manoj Sinha and will run for three days, ending tomorrow. This conference is yet another key stone in building the development ties between Kenya and India, specifically in ICT, both in public and private sectors.
“India and Africa continue to witness exponential growth in the telecommunication and information technology segments. It is thus essential to evaluate the areas where the two regions can cooperate so as to further enhance the lives of our people through technology,” said CS Mucheru.
This leg of the Indo-Africa ICT Expo was held in Nairobi for the second time with some of the activities including exhibitions, conferences and business talks.
“Given the large domestic demand for telecom equipment in India, Indian companies are now using innovation and R&D to create world class products for India as well as for other emerging markets having similar needs like Africa,” said Sinha. He goes in to note the growth of Africa’s technology capabilities.
“Africa’s Telecom Industry is witnessing a surge in broadband network deployments due to push from multiple governments and Telcos to strengthen voice and data infrastructure. With mobile data traffic likely to increase 20-fold by 2020, we see growing opportunities to create smarter long lasting networks for African telecom operators and governments,” says Ankit Agarwal, Director – Telecom Products, Sterlite Technologies. His company is one of the hundreds that showcased their products at the expo. Sterlite Technologies designs, builds and manages smarter networks for telecoms globally.
India’s economy gets a $120 billion boost annually from ICT businesses, investments and trade.
