Liberian president tries to stir interest in technology rebirth

By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press Writer
13 September 2006

ATLANTA (AP) - At the end of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's speech to Georgia Tech dignitaries, she was treated to an unusual send-off for a visiting head of state.

Two students grabbed microphones and serenaded Africa's first female president with a rap song.

"Liberia rise," they chanted on Wednesday, and the Iron Lady, as she is called by supporters, nodded almost imperceptibly in agreement.

Since taking office in January, Johnson Sirleaf has carried a similar message of uplift with her on international visits, trying to drum up investment in a nation that's in tatters after a 14-year civil war.

With help, she said, Liberia has the chance to be "America's success story in Africa."

Her plan is to develop a basic technological infrastructure and a communications regulatory body to attract outside funds. Once those goals are achieved, she envisions Liberia transforming itself into a communications and information hub in West Africa.

It is an ambitious goal for a country that still struggles to feed its 3.4 million people, she concedes. The fighting left Liberia's infrastructure ruined and its economy shattered. Basic government services collapsed, as did most of the country's legal framework. Electricity was restored this year for the first time in more than a decade.

"Coming from so far behind, we need to get the basics in," she said. "We need to enable people to learn, basically, how to use a computer."

Georgia Tech researchers are intrigued by the notion of a nation rebuilding a technology wiped out by war, said Wayne Clough, the school's president.

For instance, Liberia's phone system was looted during the war for its precious copper wiring, leaving residents with no working landline system. But that has also left the country without the outdated networks strung up in most developed countries.

"It's not enough just to develop technology and put it on the shelf and hope someone will use it," Clough said of the university's interest in playing a role in Liberia's rebirth.

To be successful, Johnson Sirleaf said, she needs investment from Microsoft Corp. and other tech giants, as well as the return of skilled workers who fled Liberia during the conflict. A group of the country's tech elite are already trying to create regulatory framework to oversee communications development.

Johnson Sirleaf, though, is quick to admit she's not one of those tech wonks.

"I'm not so high on the tech side, as a politician," she joked to a student. "I spend most of my time trying to read e-mail."


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