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Faster and deeper integration will not only reflect the pan-Africanideal of continental unity but will also enable Africa to engage moremeaningfully in global political and economic processes, which are acentral concern of this Executive Council. A common African voicehas been used to great effect in recent international forums suchas the G20 meetings as well as the Climate Change Conference inCopenhagen, which raised the climate change challenge to the highestpolitical level. The “Copenhagen Accord” was its main outcomeand commitments contained there include limiting global warmingto below 2OC, recording emission reduction targets and providingshort and long-term finance for developing countries. The Accordrepresents an important first step to establishing a legally bindingagreement for a post 2012 international climate change regime.Regional integration is also imperative to enable more economiesof scale in the productive activities that must underpin greater competitivenessand growth in the continent. In today’s global knowledgeeconomy and information-driven society, economic successis increasingly based on the effective utilisation of intangible assetssuch as knowledge, skills and innovative potential as key resourcesfor competitive advantage. Information and communication technologiesor ICTs can improve performance of businesses and theefficiency of markets while empowering citizens and communitiesand increasing their access to knowledge. I therefore salute Africanleaders for their choice of theme: Information and CommunicationTechnologies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development.ICTs provide several opportunities for African countries. For instance,as mobile phone usage expands it will facilitate health, commerce,trading, and financial services such as m-banking and m-payments.Africans can now use their mobile phones to make person-to-personpayments, transfer money or purchase pre-paid electricity. ICTdevices also provide a wealth of information that have enhancedthe education and knowledge stream for children, leading to theirfurther understanding of Africa’s development challenges, humanrights issues and the science and technology underpinning ICTs. Furthermore,the use of geo-spatial technology for management andexploration of natural resources and disaster awareness and preparednessas well as in climate change adaptation will contribute to improvingsocio-economic conditions in Africa.44 Part One