[kictanet] Are Mobicoms Impoverishing "Emerging Markets"?

[badru Ntege]

Alex

Very interesting look at the situation, however i somehow beg to differ, 
As much as we in private sector do not like policy makers that much, 
when you look from the public sector angle and as a national citizen you 
get to realise why you need effective, logical, educated and reasonable 
policy makers who can create the balance that is definately missing in 
the mexico angle.  

If the market can generate that much wealth regulations/ policy should 
be in place to make sure that the benefits are equitably distributed.  
If the private sector and in this case Mr slim has the ability to 
generate that much revenue surely they should be proper policy to help 
him make even more but also to make sure that the wider public benefit.

Your issue of wealth giving people power and ultimately having looneys 
in powerful positions with the ability to do havoc all over the world I 
think has already happened in some far away country we all know and look 
at the results.  So that situation cannot be helped but ultimately the 
power rests with the people who empower the policy makers who then 
should govern or regulate the industrialists who ultimately support our 
economies through the taxes they pay and jobs they create. 

So bottom line it is all about educating the masses to make the right 
initial decision about who and how they should be Governed  (the issue 
of governance). 

In most systems it boils down to 2 basic issues, the people and their 
knowledge.  If we get that right, the rest will fall in place, if we get 
it wrong you will have the imbalances we have.

If you think about it and now i bring in the ICT issues too, if we 
actively get involved in the global discussions on policy for example if 
Africa represents 14% of the worlds population but only 3% of it's 
internet users, I would have expected to see more interest from African 
states at the IGF, but that was not the case.  If you ask me how we 
performed i would also say in the scheme of things not bad but on the 
report card i would say we failed miserably.    So once again we are 
waiting for someone else to come speak for us a continent.

so when you say 

I quote :
"This is why I say, and stand to be corrected, "In the current situation 
ICTs cause more poverty than prosperity." "
end of quote.

Just a like a fast car if not controlled well it will hurt or even kill 
you, ICT's will get you to prosperity allot faster than traditional 
methods but if not well managed (governed) they will cause poverty.

my slightly more than 3 cents or should i say shillings.