IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

Die Europäische Kommission will innerhalb eines Strukturförderprogramms für Afrika im Umfang von insgesamt 230 Mio. Euro auch den Zugang zum Internet in Ost- und Südafrika vorantreiben.

Quarshie said this will ensure seamless operations in health facilities across the continent.

He stated this while speaking at the first Nigerian e-health summit with the theme “Understanding current e-health ecosystem in Nigeria and the role of the private sector in harnessing potential opportunities to improve health for all Nigerians”.

He said connecting rural communities on the continent to tackle challenges in education, health and governance required a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society.

The Sixth Annual Congress on the Digital Transition in Africa is being held in Paris from October 25 to 27.

Since 2011, this conference has brought together the main decision-makers of the African digital ecosystem. For three days, 1,000 participants from all over the continent, decision-makers from the public and private sectors, ministerial delegations, and corporate and civil society representatives, will discuss the role of digital technology in Africa and the opportunities for personal services, the strengthening of democracy through e-government, and economic growth.

Information and Communication Technology experts want African government to increase their support for computer students to develop cheap software if the region is to access cheaper software.

Nnenna Nwakanma the African Regional Coordinator at World Wide Web Foundation said most African countries have not developed the human capacity to engage in developing local content software.

As part of the Pan-African e-network project between India and Africa that was launched last year, DU will start conducting these unique tele-education classes for students of the African Union from July this year.

Dr Ekow Spio-Garbrah, the Minister of Trade and Industry, has advocated the establishment of a trade portal for the African continent.

He said the portal would help in trade facilitation and improvement in bilateral trade relations.

Dr Spio-Garbrah was speaking at the Swiss-Ghanaian Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Breakfast meeting on the theme: “Innovations in trade facilitation and e-government” in Accra.

American multinational technology company Google has earmarked US$1 billion for digital transformation in Africa.

It made the announcement during the maiden edition of the Google for Africa event on Wednesday.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a US$1-billion investment in Africa over five years covering a range of initiatives, such as improving connectivity and investing in start-ups.

Nigeria has the highest number of Internet users in Africa, at 43 million, surpassing South Africa, the largest economy. A report released by the ITU last week shows Nigeria's online community growing at a fast pace and Google products were the most visited by 43 million out of a population of 150 million.

Andrew Rugege, the Director of ITU regional office for Africa made a remark concerning this harmonization stating, “in Africa, we are connected to a number of submarine cables, it would be very vital for ITU member countries to have harmonized policies towards access to sub-marine cables in terms of price fixing, regulatory policies and internet bandwidth redundancy.”

In Summary

• The African Union has set an ambitious goal of connecting everyone on the continent to the internet by 2030.
• All stakeholders must all pitch in, failing which digital economy remains a pipe dream.

Africa faces many challenges on its path to becoming a global economic competitor. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Africa’s development can either be a massive barrier to advancement – or, the spark that lights the fire of innovation and investment across the continent.

There’s no denying that for most of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed digital adoption forward in vast leaps in a very short space of time. What the pandemic has also made apparent is the disparities of infrastructure across Africa, as well as gaps in adoption and policy. It’s now a necessity, rather than a luxury to fast-track the adoption of technology. By increasing productivity and facilitating innovation, technology is a key sector for the economic development of any country, and those who have embarked on their digital transformation journeys are better equipped to handle the obstacles that arise.

Africa is a world leader in areas like mobile banking and money, with new opportunities opening up in digital media and ecommerce. Speakers at IADS 2018 identified affordable access, shared infrastructure, and forward-looking regulation as key requisites to fully realise Africa’s digital future.

Ecommerce and content giants of the world such as Amazon, Netflix and Alibaba are not active players in the Africa market as yet, which leaves the door open to local players to dominate this space.

Health and healthcare have always been a huge concern in Africa, especially when doctors and hospitals can get isolated in remote areas where care is often most needed.

Africa’s use of the Internet and technology is not only lagging behind the rest of the globe, but the continent is also massively under-reaching its full potential which could see a US$300 billion (R3.1 trillion) sector emerge.

This is according to research conducted by McKinsey & Company, looking at what could be achieved in Africa should the continent close the Internet gap in the digital divide.

A meeting on ICT Best Practices held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and which was co-sponsored by the ADB says lack of support for implementation and maintenance if a proper skill in ICT is hindering the development of ICT on the continent.

ICT Africa has announced the creation of an ICT in Africa events page on their website.

With the booming ICT industry in Africa, comes an increasing need for industry players to get together and share developments, challenges and lessons learnt by others within Africa and elsewhere in the world. In order to successfully connect African countries to one another and to the rest of the world, it is imperative that governments, international institutions and national operators deploying ICT networks throughout Africa collaborate on how to connect their individual networks to one another. There is no better place to foster such collaborations than through ICT events that take place throughout the African continent.

Speaking at this year’s AGRIC showcase in Accra, Mr Davis said Africa still has about 600 million hectares of potentially suitable land which hasn`t been put to use yet”, adding that this undeveloped land if appropriately utilized with the use of technological applications by farmers in the sub region could go a long way to solve some of the world`s challenges.

He also said the agricultural sector which was the main driver of the economy could exploit the full potential of information (ICT) by Encouraging and putting in to full use by farmers to improve their value chains thereby reducing the risk of supply to its minimal level.