Editor,

RE: "Former ITU chief to head African technology alliance” (The New Times, October 23).

Smart Africa Alliance can effectively promote ICT when it first and foremost focuses on reducing the levels of illiteracy within the African communities by using the available high speed internet to offer live online courses.

Offering live courses can alternatively benefit students with no money to afford attending certain educational institutions or those that fail to get the required entrance academic grades to certain education centres, just as it checks on the balancing of regional employment skill level capabilities.

Government institutions in this regard could construct regional public libraries with giant public halls from where willing students could equally benefit from the attendance of live online courses with skillful lectures being offered directly from other educational institutions within their country or other countries.

Promoting ICT will be achieved when illiteracy levels are first dealt with if economic growth in Africa is to be achieved on a continental level.

Kintu Mugabo