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Leland
Initiative
The Leland Initiative is USAID's program for bringing the
benefits of the information revolution to the people of Africa.
It celebrates the life of Texas Congress-man Mickey Leland,
a tireless advocate for the poor and hungry of the world,
who died in a plane crash while on a relief mission in Ethiopia.
The Leland Initiative began in June 1996, charged with helping
Africa and USAID respond to the challenges and opportunities
of the "Digital Divide" -- the enormous technological
gap between those countries with access to the Internet and
its benefits and those without.
In 1996 almost no one in Africa had access to the Internet.
In November 2000 Leland Initiative engineers activated the
Eritrea national Internet backbone and Internet was brought
to the last remaining country on the African continent. Today,
thanks to the efforts of many, the Internet in Africa is an
emerging success story, showcasing the positive results that
can be achieved when courageous African policy makers and
vigorous African entrepreneurs are brought together with the
best technological know-how that America has to offer.
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