Africa : Conference on e-commerce and ICT strategies for trade and economic development

Electronic Commerce Strategies for Development:

Promoting an International Dialogue

Regional High-level Conference for Africa
Tunis, 19-21 June 2003

Organized by the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

in cooperation with the

Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Handicrafts of Tunisia

	Programme


DAY 1 - 19 June 2003 - Topical Sessions

08:30 - 09:00 Registration

09:00 - 09:40 Welcome address

H.E. Modeste Mutombo Kyamakosa, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunicatioons, Democratic Republic of Congo

Mr. John Burley, Director, Division for Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency, UNCTAD secretariat

Mr. Samir Bouzekri, Special Advisor, UNDP Tunis

H.E. Montasar Ouaili, Secretary of State to the Minister of Communication Technologies and Transport, responsible for Informatics and Internet

09:40 - 09:45 Election of the Chairperson for topical sessions

09:45 - 13:00	Session I: ICT and electronic commerce in Africa - Reinforcing the African position

09:45 - 11:30	(a) Designing and evaluating national e-commerce strategies

Moderator:	Mr. Maledh Marrakchi, General Director, Ministry of Telecommunication
Speakers:	(1)	Mohamed Ben Sassi, Director, Electronic Commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Handicrafts, Tunisia [presentation] ppt
	(2)	Mrs. Fatimetou Mint Mohamed-Saleck, Secretary of State by the Prime Minister in charge of New Technologies, Mauritania [paper] pdf
	(3)	Dr. Sherif Hashem, Director, Information Society Development Office, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Egypt [presentation] ppt

11:30 - 11:45 Coffee break

11:45 - 12:30

(b) Designing and evaluating regional e-commerce strategies

Moderator:	Mr. Maledh Marrakchi, General Director, Ministry of Telecommunication
Speakers:	(1)	Ms. Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director, Development Information Services Division, Economic Commission for Africa - AISI, the first regional framework promoting ICT for Development
	(2)	Ms. Isabel Nshimbi, Information Systems Analyst, COMESA Secretariat
	(3)	Mr. Nitin Jaddoo, Southern African Development Community, Botswana [presentation] ppt [paper] pdf

12.30 – 13.00 Discussion

13.00 – 14.30 Lunch

14:30 - 17:45	Session II: Legal and regulatory environment

14:30 - 15:45	(a) The basic legal framework for a predictable e-commerce environment (i) Recognition and legal validity of electronic messages (ii) Legislation on electronic signatures

Moderator:	Dr. Carlos Moreno, Legal Adviser, UNCTAD
Speakers:	(1)	Renaud Sorieul, Senior Legal Officer, UNCITRAL - Recognition and legal validity of e-messages
	(2)	Eric Caprioli, Professor and lawyer, EDHEC, France - Legislation on e-signatures [presentation] ppt

15:45 - 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 - 17:45

(b) The role of codes of conduct and trustmarks for boosting consumer confidence
(i) Consumer protection issues
(ii) Online dispute resolution of e-commerce disputes

	Moderator:	Dr. Carlos Moreno, Legal Adviser, UNCTAD
	Speakers:	(1)	Prof. Filiga Michel Sawadogo, University of Ouagadougou, OHADA Expert, member of Afrijuris, Burkina Faso - National and regional approaches for the implementation of an e-commerce regulation: The case of Burkina Faso and West Africa [[paper] pdf
		(2)	Ethan Katsh, Univ. of Massachusetts, United States - Online Dispute Resolution for e-commerce disputes
		(3)	Mr. Sven Callebaut, HRD Expert, UNCTAD secretariat
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18.00 (Reception)

DAY 2 - 20 June 2003 - Topical Sessions


09.00 – 11.00	Session III: E-payments and e-finance for enterprises - Financing e-commerce

Moderator:	Dr. Rouben Indjikian, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD
Speakers:	(1)	Mr. Jonathan Campaigne, Executive Director, Pride Africa, Kenya [presentation] ppt
	(2)	Mr. Ivan Jones, Vice President, e-Business, MasterCard International Middle East and North Africa [presentation] ppt
	(3)	Mr. Alfie Naidoo, Managing Executive, Absa Electronic Channels, South Africa [presentation] ppt
	(4)	Mr. Ali Khiri, Director, General Interbank RTelecompensation Company, Tunisia
	(5)	Mr. Abderraouf Ben Ghezala, Managing Director, Tunisian Bankers and Other Financial Institutions Association, Tunisia

11:00 - 11:15 Coffee break

11.15 – 17.45	Session IV: Applications of e-commerce and ICTs

11:15 - 12:30	(a) The Internet and marketing developing countries' agricultural exports

Moderator:	Mr. Mongi Hamdi, Chief, Science and Technology section, UNCTAD secretariat
Speakers:	(1)	Mr. Titus Gitau, Co-founder & Director, Lion Coffee Co. Ltd, Kenya
	(2)	Mr. Colin Howard, Director Comdaq, United Kingdom
	(3)	Mr. Mohamed Babbou, Director, Informatics and Information Systems Direction, Tunisia

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch break

14.00 – 15.15

(b) E-tourism

Moderator:	Mr. Saief Allah Lasram, Cabinet of the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Handicrafts, Tunisia
Speakers:	(1)	Mr. Tariq Howeidy, CEO, Intoegypt.com, Egypt [presentation] ppt
	(2)	Mr. Damian Cook, Web Consultant, Kenya Tourist Board - MagicalKenya.com, Kenya [presentation] ppt [paper] pdf
	(3)	Mr. Jens Friis Jensen, Programme Manager, World Tourism Organization [presentation] ppt

15:15 - 15:30 Coffee break

15.30 – 17.45

(c) E-government/Open Source

Moderator:	Mr. Ezzeddine Nciri, Public Services Counselor, Prime Ministry, Tunisia
Speakers:	(1)	Mr. Nhlanhla Mabaso, CIO, Department of Public Service and Administration, South Africa
	(2)	Prof. Derek Keats, Executive Director of Information & Communication Services, University of the Western Cape, South Africa [presentation] ppt [paper] pdf
	(3)	Mr. Bill Kagai, FOSSFA Secretariat, Circuits & Packets Communication Ltd, Kenya [paper] pdf
	(4)	Ms. Kadhija Zammouri, Director, General Direction for Administrative Reform, Prime Minister, Tunisia
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DAY 3 - 21 June 2003
High level debate on e-commerce
strategies for development in Africa

10.00–12.00 Drafting Committee

12.30-14.00 Closing Ceremony

Adoption of the Declaration

Ms. Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director, Development Information Services Division UNECA of ECA

Mr. Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General of UNCTAD

H.E. Mohsen Laaroui, Secretary of State, Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Handicrafts of Tunisia, Director of Commerce

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Reports and Documents

Reports

Declaration on Electronic Commerce for Development
[ARABIC] [ENGLISH]

Minutes of the Conference
[ARABIC] [ENGLISH]

Documents

E-commerce and Development Report 2002

Issues note by the UNCTAD secretariat
Electronic commerce strategies for development:
The Basic Elements of an Enabling Environment for E-commerce
(TD/B/COM.3/EM.15/2)

E-commerce and Development Report 2001