Microsoft pledges PC training

The goal of the program, which is similar to projects the US-based software company has funded in Mexico and Chile, is to bring internet technology to more than 600 000 schools across Africa, Microsoft chairperson Bill Gates said.

Microsoft immediately will support 25 schools in eight African countries, establishing a personal computer centre for every school.

Improve competitiveness

Gates is in South Africa to attend a Microsoft-sponsored forum of government leaders which gathers several African heads of state and former US President Bill Clinton for discussions on how technology can improve the continent's competitiveness.

Appearing with Gates on Tuesday, Clinton said technology "has an important role to creating a competitive, thriving Africa."

Clinton called himself "technologically challenged" as he struggled to make a mobile microphone work.

While president, he said, he had worked hard in order to "bridge the digital divide" within the US, promoting personal computer and broadband penetration. A similar approach is required in Africa and the rest of the developing world, Clinton said.

Computer connections could replace printed textbooks, Clinton said. When he was in India, the former president said he was impressed how computers had been installed in the local dairy cooperative.

Cellphone impact

The computers gave information to women on how to minimize health risks for their infants. Clinton also lauded the impact of cellphones.

"If you look at what has happened with cellphones in most of the developing world, it is a harbinger of what we should be doing with more sophisticated technologies."

He cited a World Bank study showing every 10% increase in cellphones adds 0.6% of gross domestic product to the country.

Gates and Clinton are travelling for the next few days in South Africa and Lesotho to review health projects funded by the Gates Foundation, which has invested billions of dollars to fight diseases such as HIV/Aids and malaria.