IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The cable, which went live last week, is expected to stiffen competition in the provision of broadband services in the region, which is already serviced by three undersea cables including Teams, Seacom and EASSY (East Africa Submarine Cable System).

Cheaper broadband services are expected to improve East Africa's telecom sector as more countries move to implement e-governance, e-learning and e-health programs, which have been hindered by the region's insufficient broadband infrastructure and capacity. Africa's voice market is still growing but the growth curve is beginning to flatten, forcing operators and service providers to compete more aggressively in the data market.

Deng Li, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister, has announced China's proposals for the China-Africa Partnership Plan on Digital Innovation at the China-Africa Internet Development and Cooperation Forum.

A statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the forum, hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of China, was attended by ministerial-level officials from African countries and the African Union Commission in charge of digital and telecommunications affairs, diplomatic envoys to China, Chinese and African scholars and entrepreneurs.

China is helping Africa materialize its blueprint for an integrated and inclusive African digital economy and society

Throughout the past decade, digitalization has been highlighted as a dynamic force to drive productivity development, improve social product distribution, generate new job opportunities, and increase information accessibility and connectivity among different individuals, peoples and countries in Africa.

Cities are complex social systems and, like magnets, they attract and repel. For some citizens the notion of a city conjures up images of bright lights, sophistication, excitement and opportunities. For others, a city is a dystopian, heartless and dangerous place where social ills prevail and threats to life and limb are pervasive. No matter the prevailing views towards cities, for millions of Africans, cities are what we call home. The challenge is, how to make cities more liveable; where they shelter us, nurture us, support us, and even become spaces where dreams are made.

African cities are expanding at a rapid rate. Cairo, Addis Ababa, Kigali and Cape Town are but a few of the cities on the continent that have shown exponential growth spatially, economically and demographically. These are primarily due to rural to urban population shifts, intercity-migration and high birth rates.

"To fully succeed in, and become a sub-regional hub of digital transformation, Cameroon must very quickly move on costs, access, quality of services and on improving the sector's competitiveness, while having its sight set on job-creation and accelerating innovation ".

These are the words of Antonio Pedro, Director of the Subregional Office for Central Africa of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), during a consultation with various stakeholders of Cameroon's digital transition project, moderated by ECA's Economic Affairs Officer Mactar Seck, and chaired by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Cameroon, Ms. Minette Libom Li Likeng, this Thursday at the ECA premises in Yaounde.

Countries in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) are lagging behind with respect to robotics, artificial intelligence and technology infrastructure and skills acquisition.

Jean Baptiste Mutabazi, the regional bloc's Director of Infrastructure, noted this during the COMESA Connect Industry Dialogue in Kigali themed "Smart Technologies for Sustainable Businesses."

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commonwealth Telecom Organisation (CTO), Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has urged African governments to invest, alongside private entities, in the creation of suitable content that will facilitate Africa’s development, rather than rely on foreign entities to develop most of the content currently consumed in Africa through various information and communication technologies (ICTs). The CEO also recommended the early establishment of an African regulatory body, to help reduce the costs of telecommunications in Africa. He was contributing to a panel discussion on the liberalization and regulation of African telecoms at a conference still underway in Johannesburg on Satellite Communications (SATCOM 2007).

Information and communications technology could well be the next sweet spot for investment in Africa, judging by the number of ICT projects announced by African nations recently. ICT's important role in African development was also reiterated last month, when leaders from 10 nations came together in the Rwandan capital Kigali to discuss how it could be used more.

Participating are Telkom, Vodacom and the state-owned Broadband Infraco.

Another member is Tata Communications, the majority shareholder in Neotel, South Africa's second fixed line operator.

The roll-out of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) comes with a “leave no one behind” strategy that moves from reducing to ending poverty, and one that puts sustainability and growth at its core, believes Abey Tau, Public Affairs and Corporate Citizenship Manager for Samsung Electronics Africa.

Prepared to follow on from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were unveiled with the aim of taking steps towards building a better world in the next 15 years.

AI presents Africa with a major opportunity to overcome its development challenges through innovative solutions. Countries like Côte d'Ivoire, among the most forward-thinking, are implementing strategic initiatives to leverage this emerging technology.

Côte d'Ivoire presented its national strategy for artificial intelligence (AI) and data governance on Thursday, March 13. After eight months of preparation, the document was officially handed over to Prime Minister Beugré Mambé (photo, center) for government adoption and its upcoming launch. This initiative marks a turning point in the country’s digital policy.

Stating that COVID-19 crisis has become the single biggest catalyst for digital transformation, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure & Energy, Amani Abou-Zeid, has urged solidarity and partnership for Africa’s digitization.

The AU Commissioner made the remarks during the virtual e-governance conference organized by Estonian e-Governance Academy under the theme “Giant Leaps Start with Small Steps,” according to an AU statement on Saturday.

In a speech read by the Communications Minister on behalf of the President of Ghana, His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills, Honourable Haruna Iddrisu said that, “In connecting rural communities, we in Africa, should embrace ICT infrastructure deployment as part of a unified and comprehensive economic development strategy that also addresses issues of education, health, governance and commerce.”

Speaking at the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU's) regional Cybersecurity Forum being held here this week, Amos Marawa said that IT infrastructure must be properly secured before any e-government programs are put into place, and he called for better training for members of the judiciary and law enforcement in computer forensics. He also called for regional cooperation on both legal and technical matters relating to cybersecurity.

According to a report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), it revealed that some 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require some level of digital skills by 2030.

Forbes also predicts that 85% of jobs that will be available in 2030 haven’t yet been invented, as the work humans do will continually shift due to the fact that most jobs will become obsolete due to the emergence of new ones.

The digital transformation of customs and borders in Africa could improve efficiencies in processes, such as administration at customs and borders, and yield trade gains on the continent of $20 billion a year.

A new report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Growing Intra-Africa Trade through Digital Transformation of customs and borders, launched today at the Annual Meeting 2022 in Davos, provides a pragmatic perspective on the non-tariff barriers in border and customs services that can be exponentially improved through digital transformation to increase intra-Africa trade.

Africa’s rising status as a global leader in digital transformation was firmly cemented at the inaugural GITEX Africa 2023 digital summit as tech leaders from across the continent and the world gathered to collaborate and pledge their commitments to accelerating cross-continent investment opportunities.

GITEX Africa summit was held in Marrakech, Morocco with thousands of attendees across its 45,000 sqm of exhibition expanse, with government ministers and private sector executives alike celebrating the collective achievements, and more importantly, advancing the future ambitions of a continent determined to elevate its entrepreneurial innovation economy.

While there can be no doubt that digital transformation presents a massive opportunity for economic growth in Africa, it is critical to ensure that this growth is inclusive – and that it benefits women’s equality in the workplace, rather than harming it.

In context, according to the final draft of the ICT and Digital Economy Masterplan for South Africa, anecdotal evidence suggests that South Africa’s digital economy is growing and contributing anywhere between 2% and 19% to the country’s GDP. Globally, the digital economy is expected to grow to 24% of the world’s GDP by 2025.