Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) involved in Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the country are to attend the Africa marketplace conference in Ethiopia- Adis Abbaba on 13th to 15th February 2008.

The conference is organised by Pro-Invest, a common programme of the European Commission (EC) and the group of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) states.
It aims at promoting and supporting business opportunities in ICT, encouraging further growth and development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) countries.

Rica Rwigamba, Conference coordinator in Rwanda said the symposium will help SMEs dealing in ICT to initiate talks on potential partnerships.

"We have got a chance of sending thirty entrepreneurs or associations to the conference and I hope our entrepreneurs will have enough interactions with foreign ICT companies and entrepreneurs,” she said in an interview recently.

Some of the enterprises slated to attend include; private and public companies active in the ICT sector, information processing centres, firms developing software and applications.

Others are call-centres, telecommunication companies and e-service providers.
Rwigamba said the conference is timely: "This is a strong opportunity for our economic developments since the ICT sector is the core of all sustainable economic growth in this region.”

The ICT Africa marketplace is supported by a network of intermediary organisations in East Africa & the Indian Ocean with the aim to foster and facilitate the implementation of ICT projects in the region.

Rwigamba added that the conference will offer a platform for intense information and interaction between participants from Europe, India and African region.
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