IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

"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.

The importance of digital transformation in creating quality jobs and the economic recovery of post-pandemic African countries: this is the main focus of the report "Development Dynamics in Africa 2021", the result of a partnership between the African Union and the OECD Development Centre, whose Portuguese edition - funded by the Camões Institute - was presented this Wednesday in Lisbon.

"The report being launched today in its Portuguese version tells us that the digital sector is booming in Africa and that dynamic means an opportunity for governments to help start a new growth cycle after the Covid-19 crisis." Armindo de Brito Fernandes, director-general of the Comunity of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) stated.

A blueprint for digital economies and MOUs signed with Inmarsat and French consultancy Tactis – some of the outcomes of the Transform Africa Summit 2019. The fifth iteration of the summit, arranged by Smart Africa – a coalition of African member states committing to harnessing ICT for socio-economic development – was held this week in Kigali, Rwanda, under the theme ‘Boosting Africa’s Digital Economy’.

The directors of influential technology companies in Africa – GVG and Accenture (now Verrakis in Nigeria) – also spoke this week on their views for Africa’s digitization.

City life in Africa is a unique case study. It’s one of those areas where we often see sky-high optimism among its observers in the face of outright chaos. You’d be curious how a researcher studies Africa and concludes that it will have the world’s largest cities by 2100. But there might be arguments to support that.

A paper claims the urban growth rate in Africa is the fastest globally. Others even project that Africa will be the only continent experiencing population growth by the end of this century, and 13 of the 20 largest urban areas will be in Africa. All these savoury forecasts are coming while the continent has only two cities on that list. And it’s okay to either believe them or not. But an interesting emerging pattern is that people are beginning to build new cities in Africa. Well, not just cities – ‘smart’ cities.

The communique is one of the outcomes of the ministerial round table held at the African Union Conference Centre in Addis Ababa during December’s 2013 African ICT Week.

With the dotAfrica initiative set to be launch in three months, the statement outlined certain issues, which include the need for the promotion of the dotAfrica gTLD at the national level to be undertaken by information-sharing, education and communication activities.

Despite she was not able to attend the African Union premises where the ITU event was hosted, she has sent the below message to the young girls and women of the audience.