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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.

Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony

The following was a speech delivered by USAID mission director of Mozambique, George Wachtenheim.

Your excellency the Minister [of Transport and Telecommunications, Paulo Muxanga], senhor director geral, outros distinguidos [Click here for theMinister's speech]

I am very pleased that Mozambique is the fourth African country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with USAID for the Leland Initiative. This is a tribute to the work the Government and TDM have done over the last few years to put in place a policy environment conducive to the rapid spread of new technology. In particular, current legislationallows commercial providers to compete freely to provide Internet to the general public, and TDM has agreed to sell bandwidth to them on a non-discriminatory basis, with prices based on costs.

The Leland Initiative was launched by U.S. Vice President Gore in mid-1995 and will put 20 African countries on theInformation Superhighway over the next four years. Mozambique will be one of the first.

As a result of this agreement, full and fast Internet services will beavailable commercially and cheaply in Maputo within six months, and toother major cities within a year. What this means is that anybody witha computer, modem, and telephone will have access to an unlimited amount of information. We live in the Information Age and are in the midst of the Information Revolution. There are, of course, other actions the government can take to hasten the adoption of thetechnology and USAID will assist the government to identify and overcome them in the next year. It is perhaps worth noting that in 1995, U.S. business spending on information technology exceeded investment in traditional equipment.

To conclude, let me cite some of the potential benefits that this agreement couldbring:

It will spur investment, by providing cheap and extensiveworldwide communications to Mozambican businesses. It will also allow these businesses to advertise local products to a potential audience of tens of millions.

It will give Mozambican professionals in all sectors instant access to their colleagues around the world, and to the latest developments in their fields.

It will strengthen and deepen civil society and democracy, by facilitating communication among Mozambicans and between Mozambique and the rest of the world.

USAID will support efforts to extend this facility to as many people and groups as possible. In the next couple of months we will provide technical assistance to identify and overcome other constraints to therapid spread of new technology, and we will canvas the potential development applications of the Internet in Mozambique. In the longer term, and asan integral part of our overall program, we will work with the Government and our other partners to ensure that the technology is usedto spur economic growth and strengthen democracy.

In closing, I would like to say that this is another example of the United States’ close collaboration with the government and people of Mozambique in support of the country’s economic and social development.

Mozambique contact information
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