Pan-African e-Network

Pan-African e-Network project was conceived by our former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to assist Africa in supporting tele-education, tele-medicine, e-commerce, e-governance, infotainment, resource-mapping and meterorological services. The project was approved by the Union Cabinet on 5th July, 2007 at a budgeted cost of Rs.543 Cr. This budget allocation encompassed the cost of supply. installation, testing and commissioning of hardware and software, end-to-end connectivity, satellite bandwidth, O&M support and providing tele-education and tele-medicine support to 53 African countries. Ministry of External Affairs is looking after the project and Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) is implementing the project on India's side.

Another man who was instrumental in executing the project was our present President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. He was then the External Affairs Minister. Under his initiative  the project had started.

This year during the Oct 2015 third Indo-African Summit is going to be held where the delegates from all the African Nations decided to show respect to Late Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Azad, in an unique way by wearing wigs resembling the hair style of the former President, for conceiving such a grand project that had brought vast changes in the lives of African countries. Weighing the benefits of the project the African delegates would wish to extend the project for 5 more years from July 2016.

Some success stories

• A Senegalese boy, aged 14 years at the time of commissioning of the project, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. No airline took the chance to take him Europe for an operation. With the help of the tele-medicine support provided under e-Network the boy was successfully operated upon a hospital at Dakar, capital of Senegal, under the guidance of the specialists at Fortis, New Delhi, over video.
• Large number of African nationals operated upon at various super-speciality hospitals in India need not come any more to India for regular check up. On line check ups have made it possible and millions of dollars have been saved so far.
• Sechelles, the nation comprising of islands, is a welfare state. The country takes all the burden of a patient and one relative to accompany him or her. After the e-Network facility is installed 70% of the patients are now treated over tele-medicine, thus saving huge amount of dollars.
• "Mesh" network facility is provided by TCIL making possible a secure virtual meeting with the heads of different African nations within minutes of a conflict and resolves disputes. Thus African nations are saved from possibility of major violences those may have erupted.

Conclusion

Technology can come to real help of the people. It can encompass a whole nation or a whole continent. It is actually linking the whole world. This Pan-African initiative of e-Network is an example of that benevolent approach of a couple of statesmen from India like late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Mr. Pranab Mukherjee after Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Again the person who thought it big, as big as the second largest continent - Africa, was none the less Dr. Abul Pakir Jainul Abdin Kalam.