by Tinashe Madava
Southern African governments say they are ready to counter the millennium bug if it strikes computers in the region over the New Year.
In a communique from the SADC summit in Mauritius last year, member states agreed to “treat the year 2000 computer problem as an emergency and to allocate resources for initiatives seeking solutions on a top priority basis”. Even at this year’s summit in Maputo, the SADC leaders reiterated the need to be prepared to counter the Y2K bug.
However, some officials within the region have openly said that there is no need to worry because most of Africa is not as technologically advanced as western countries are.
But many fear they will encounter problems controlling panic-stricken public that does not have faith in their promises.
“As far as we are concerned, the critical sectors – energy, transport, health, water, aviation and banking -are all on track. Our main worry frankly is how the consumers react on rollover day,” said Allim Milazi, communications manager at South Africa’s National 2000 Support Centre in Pretoria, in an interview with Reuter.
Milazi said consumer reaction would be a key factor, even though South Africa, an African economic powerhouse, is widely rated as well prepared when midnight strikes at the end of the year.
The Y2K glitch occurs because older computers-which were allocated only two digits for the year in a date -may read year 2000 as 1900, causing computer systems to make mistakes or shut down completely.
As a follow up to pledges made by governments at the SADC Summit in Mauritius last September, a number of conferences took place with the objective of designing ways to deal with the computer problem also known as the Y2K.
Two meetings for SADC National Y2K Coordinators held in January and March in Botswana and Mauritius respectively recommended that members should formulate an action plan to address the skill shortages in dealing with the computer bug.
Both meetings also urged member states to set up national helpline desks to facilitate the sharing of information across communities and countries.
Another regional conference was held in August in Harare. Some countries including Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have of late been buying Year 2000 compliant computer equipment.
Meanwhile, most banks and the stock exchange in Zimbabwe will be closed from December 31 to January 3 “in order to facilitate the handling of transactions and data capture to obviate systems breakdown over the millennium period”.
The chairperson of Zimbabwe’s Y2K National task force campaign. Charles Nherera said the country has generally eliminated the threat posed by the bug.
He said that the Zimbabwe task force had identified and pushed for compliance in key sectors such as banking, electricity and water supply, post and telecommunications and health services.
South Africa has declared December 31 through to January 3 extra public holidays and financial markets will reopen on January 4.
In most countries in the region, mass withdrawals from banks and cash machines by consumers worried about the Y2K could cause disruptions in the banking industry.
Experts say the biggest challenges in the region would be felt in war-ravaged Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting has destroyed infrastructure.
Countries such as Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique are unlikely to suffer any major disruptions due to the lack of widespread technology.
Early this year, one magazine, African Business, reported that Y2K non-compliance may bring about a ban of African runways unless airports provide adequate information on their readiness for the millennium. The International Air Transport Association (lATA) is concerned that so little information has been gathered from African airports.
The South African Civil Aviation, which can monitor civilian air activity right up to the equator, says it will be on standby to ensure the sky are safe, and to help where poorer neighboring states may encounter problems.
In Botswana, some businesspeople their country will not be heavily affected by the Y2K bug. Speaking to the Botswana Gazette recently, Dr Loftus Ndzinge, Chief Executive Officer of Investec Flight Guinness (Botswana), an international asset and fund management company said the phenomenon was a short-term risk that needs not cause panic and anxiety.
He predicted that if there were going to be any disruptions, they will be minor as South Africa and other major economies are well prepared. He went on to say that while there is a likelihood of distortions on data, the effects will have a very limited lasting impact. “Between now and December people may want to sell their shares, but that should be viewed as an opportunity,” said Ndzinge.
Although most SADC countries set up national Y2K task forces or forums with the mandate to monitor the progress and preparations of key sectors in their economies, there were fears that this might be too little too late.
However, the time has arrived to evaluate all the policy plans and work that was put in avoiding the Y2K collapse. Concern is on avoiding panicking. (SARDC)
