From Africa Recovery, Vol.13#1 (June 1999), Briefs page

Forum launched to prepare Africa for Y2K bug

High-level officials from 45 African countries met in Accra, Ghana, in mid-May to discuss how the continent can better respond to the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer bug problem. The Y2K problem refers to the potentially disastrous consequences of most computer programmes using "00" to denote the year 2000, with the danger that date-dependent computer systems will mistake this as the year 1900. Sponsored by the World Bank and the Ghanaian government, the "Getting Africa Ready for the Year 2000" conference urged African countries to formulate regional action and contingency plans and raise public awareness of the issue.

Earlier this year, the World Bank drew attention to the potential dangers to developing countries if the Y2K problem is ignored and results in a general failure of essential, computerized services such as power generation, telecommunications, food and fuel distribution, the provision of medical care and transport.

According to a spokesperson for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) attending the Accra conference, there is a dearth of information on how many African airports have made their computerized trafficking systems immune to the Y2K bug. African airports could face an embargo on their operations if they fail to notify the IATA by mid-1999 of their Y2K preparations.

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