IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

A report the other day by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that Nigeria and other countries in Africa are losing about $2 billion annually via brain drain in the health sector is another badge of dishonour for a continent that has constantly been a symbol of shame and suffering.

The Foundation stated in its 2018 Report titled, “Public Service in Africa” that no sound governance in Africa would be achieved without strong public services and health care delivery is one that is abysmally, shamefully low, of all public services.

Smart cities are a potential solution to Africa’s urban challenges

Amid all the headlines about weakening currencies, rising inflation, and political instability, it’s easy to get caught up in the negatives, but there’s a lot to celebrate on our continent. As we come to the end of Africa Month in May and we approach the African Smart Cities Summit in June, it’s a great time to recognise the remarkable advancements in Africa’s top-performing smart cities.

Prof. Hlengiwe Mkhize, Deputy Minister of South Africa’s Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, during day-2 (November 18) of the AfricaCom 2015, highlighted the importance of information and communications technologies for socio-economic development in Africa.

She identified education, e-health, e-governance, online/mobile financial services as the the key elements of ICT development.

The 20th anniversary of Africa’s largest tech-focused event may have come and gone, but beyond the record-breaking number of visitors, exhibitors and speakers and new launches and cutting-edge products this year, the outcomes make for a lasting impression.

AfricaCom was once focused solely on the telecommunications market, but now that conversation has successfully shifted to embrace all things technology driven – the backbone of our everyday and increasingly, future lives. While many of the discussions at AfricaCom 2017 centred around connectivity – from the cost of data to the deployment of satellite as a viable means of connecting the continent, Africa has more pressing problems – that of digital inclusion, and just what this means and how this digital-democracy can actually materialise.

Huawei Technologies hosted the Digital Africa Summit, which took place during AfricaCom, earlier this week , with expert speakers engaging on Africa’s digital transformation, the strides made during the Covid 19 pandemic and the path still ahead.

While Africa has come far in the past 18 months in its digital transformation, there is still much potential to fully embrace digital transformation and equip the continent’s youth with the skills they need to thrive in a digital economy.

Leaders at the Green & Resilient UrbanShift Africa Forum in Nairobi will issue an open letter calling on national governments to unlock sustainable investment for cities. Leaders from more than 250 African cities meeting in Nairobi today (17 February) for the Green & Resilient UrbanShift Africa Forum will issue an open letter urging national governments on the continent to help drive a green and resilient urban future.

What you need to know:

• NMG Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Odundo highlighted the media’s role in advancing Kenya’s smart city agenda.
• County governments also reaffirmed their commitment to the national smart governance vision.

Africa’s cities are expanding faster than ever, with the continent’s urban population projected to double from 700 million to 1.4 billion by 2050, according to UN-Habitat.

Experts say this growth will make Africa the world’s second most urbanised region — posing immense pressure on housing, transport, and infrastructure, but also offering vast potential for innovation and economic transformation.

According to a Commonwealth press statement, the 11th Forum of Commonwealth Africa Heads of Public Service, taking place in Port Louis, Mauritius, was opened on Tuesday by Mauritian President Rajkeswur Purryag under the theme ‘e-Government for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in Africa’.

More and more governments around the world are turning to electronic methods to deliver services and communicate with citizens via the internet.

These e-government systems, as they are known, allow people to do a number of things. They can pay for their utilities, or settle their fines. They can register new businesses or vehicles. They are also able to get information from government agencies through emails, SMS messages, and mobile apps.

A focus on high-tech healthcare solutions could come at the expense of basic prevention such as access to clean water and sanitation, good nutrition and hygiene, and health education, said experts at the AfriHealth conference in Kenya, this week (30 November–1 December).

In a continent where 80 per cent of illnesses stem from preventable infectious diseases, this is a move in the wrong direction, said Yunkap Kwankam, executive director of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth.

While infrastructure in the equatorial region is underdeveloped, it does have a key advantage: plentiful, reliable sunlight. Mobile solar classrooms, an ever more common sight trundling along the potholed roads of rural Africa, show that the creative use of an abundant resource can overcome disadvantages.

Following from the release of the South African matriculation (matric) examination results yesterday, the organisers of the event said the current quality of education is questionable, and both teaching and learning methods need to be reassessed.

Leaders in ICT development in Africa today joined some 130 stakeholders in Maputo at the 4th annual e-Governance Africa Forum organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) in collaboration with Mozambique’s Ministry of Science and Technology, to propose solutions to the numerous challenges facing African governments in their efforts to develop and deploy information and communications technologies to improve government service delivery, build capacity and skill sets, and ensure citizen empowerment.

This came out of the ongoing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Africa conference in Harare this week.

African countries have seen decades of imposed structural adjustment policies that have failed to raise industrialisation levels on the continent.

"The drive towards Africa's very own Top Level Domain (TLD) continues to gather momentum and we need the support of all African governments and the broader community as that momentum gathers further steam," said Koffi Fabrice Djossou, who presented the ZACR's case for dotAfrica at the Summit.

The Vice President made the call at the opening of a two-day United Nations (UN) Africa Regional Ministerial meeting on e-Health, in Accra on Tuesday.

With a first close of $145 million, it is one of the largest African based infrastructure funds, notwithstanding its single sector focus.

CPCIF, which has a targeted final close of $250 million, aims to invest in communications infrastructure and related services and technologies across sub-Saharan Africa. It expects to generate significant returns for investors, while also enabling ICT- driven socio-economic development.

The 2012 Telecommunications Survey, carried out by global Amrop executive search group member, Landelahni Business Leaders, highlights the skills gaps in the African ICT sector.

Estonia is clearly punching above its weight when it comes to e-services, African ICT leaders attending the Tallinn e-Governance Conference 2017 told daily Postimees.

One of the conference's highest-ranking guests was African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, effectively the counterpart of European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Andrus Ansip, Postimees wrote.