The fifth West Africa Computing & Telecommunications Exhibition and Conference, AITEC West Africa 2001 commences on Thursday, 17 May 2001 with an opening ceremony expected to be performed by the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Mr J.A. Kuffuor with the assistance of the Minister of Communications, The Hon Felix Owusu Agyapong.

From the time of taking office, Mr Kuffuor has made the strongest ever commitment on behalf of his new government to support the advance in technology that can contribute towards the economic recovery of Ghana.

Since AITEC s first exhibiton and conference in Ghana in 1997, the annual event has become a must in the diary of top IT managers, communication and information technology (IT) manufacturers and marketers from Ghana as well as other West African countries with some exhibitors and speakers coming from Europe, South Africa and the USA. With the theme of this year s show 'Tapping Information and Communication Technologies for West African Development , confirmed participation has already been received from a number of overseas organizations planning to appoint local representation or business partners in anticipation of continued market growth in the IT and telecomms sectors.

The timing of this year s event is particularly significant as the opening falls on World Telecommunications Day an important date in the calendar of telecommunications service providers. A focal point of the exhibition will be the Telecommunications Pavilion where the industry will demonstrate the latest communications technology to high level corporate and government decision makers.

Organisers of the event, UK based African Information Technology Exhibitions & Conferences, recently announced their plans to work with sponsor s Computer Information Systems (CIS) and their subsidiary Hiperdist distributors in Ghana of Hewlett Packard, one of the principal global business solutions providers in IT. The partnership consolidates a relationship between the organizations over the last four years and is expected to produce an even greater event than AITEC 2000. Speaking from his Accra office, a spokesman for AITEC said We are highly delighted to be teaming up yet again with CIS. Their professionalism and know how are invaluable ingredients in the success of this show. They bring with them the credibility of a truly massive business empire and years of experience in the industry .

The AITEC 2001 Conference will comprise strategic briefings to government and private sector delegates by IT professionals from both inside and outside Ghana on subjects including e-governance, the Internet, e-commerce, networking, third generation mobile telephony and the telecommunications regulatory framework in West Africa. These will include practical sessions to advance the skills of all the participants at the Conference.

Referring to the three day exhibition with the conference concurrent with the first two days, the spokesman confirmed that a target of over 50 exhibitors and 200 conference delegates was quite achievable. An expected visitor total in excess of last years 6,000 is anticipated to generate more transactions and sales leads than ever before.

AITEC West Africa 2001 starts on Thursday 17 May 2001 at the Accra International Conference Centre, Ghana. For more information, contact ghana@aitecafrica.com or call 021 7012136/7 or tel/fax 021 762926.