The launch, which will cover six schools across the country, makes South Africa the seventh country to launch the project after Uganda, Ghana, Lesotho, Kenya, Rwanda, and Egypt.

South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki is expected to attend together with Cabinet Ministers, high-ranking officials, diplomats, development partners and private sector representatives.

The NEPAD e-Schools project falls under the auspices of the NEPAD e-Africa Commission, the information and communication technology task team responsible for developing the NEPAD ICT programme and implementing related projects.

First announced in 2003 at the Africa Summit of the World Economic Forum in Durban, South Africa the NEPAD e-Schools project focuses on providing end-to-end ICT solutions that will connect schools across Africa to the NEPAD e-Schools network and the Internet. Solutions also include the provision of content and learning material and the establishment of health points at schools.

In each country, the programme aims to transform African secondary schools into NEPAD e-Schools within five years of implementation start date and all African primary schools within 10 years of implementation start date.

In total, more than 600,000 schools across the continent will enjoy the benefits of ICT and connectivity to the NEPAD e-Schools satellite network.

The countries participating in the demonstration project are : Algeria , Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria , Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. Source : NEPAD News, april 5, 2007