SES sponsors workshop on Satellite connectivity and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for fostering delivery of public goods in Africa at the EU Development Days

SES will today take part in an EU Development Days (EDD) workshop which aims to raise awareness among EU and African policy-makers that connectivity, in particular satellite Internet, is a key tool in the deployment of education and health projects in Africa.

Two SES representatives, Vice President of Institutional Relations Christine Leurquin and Senior Manager Dan Isaac will be joined by high-level politicians and representatives, including Sierra Leona Ambassador Ibrahim Sorie and Mirjam van Reisen, board member of the Philips Foundation. SES is also sponsoring the workshop, titled: ‘Satellite connectivity and PPP for fostering delivery of public goods in Africa’.

EDD is Europe’s leading forum on development and international cooperation and aims to inspire global leaders to work together to create a poverty-free, sustainable and fair world where everyone has a chance at a decent life.

“Without connectivity, education and health projects which are hugely important for Africa’s development cannot be properly and efficiently deployed,” said Christine Leurquin. “Satellite is vital when providing this connectivity as it can be deployed quickly and cost-effectively anywhere in the world, even in areas not currently served by terrestrial infrastructure.”

Dan Isaac added: “We are currently putting a lot of effort into developing a new e-learning platform which, combined with our satellite reach, will be able to connect schools, teachers and students, contributing significantly to education in Africa.”

The workshop aims to facilitate the dialogue between European and African policy makers which needs to intensify and follow a more systematic approach in regards to barriers that currently exist in the deployment of connectivity, based on SES’ experience and projects in Africa, for example, the e-health platform SATMED, emergency response communications, and the development of a new e-learning platform. It will also look at new ways of establishing PPPs in Africa which could lead to concrete recommendations, potentially for concrete projects.

Heather Saunders, of Plan UK, Angela Ney, founder of Teachers Media International, and Thierno Seydou Diop, Senior Africa Advisor at Schuman Associates, will also take part in the session, which takes place on Wednesday, June 3 from 6pm to 7.15pm.

For more information, please visit: https://eudevdays.eu/topics/satellite-connectivity-and-public-private-partnership-fostering-delivery-public-goods-afric-2