Digital drivers: Ministers from Malawi, Namibia, Uganda and Zambia during the ministerial forum at Monday's launch of Africa Com 2022 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) held a ministerial forum with participants from Malawi, Namibia, Uganda and Zambia on Monday during the launch of Africa Com 2022 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The session focused on methods to engineer a new sense of hope for Africa’s digital economy journey.
Under the theme “Rise Stronger with Digital Economy: New Paths towards a Resilient Recovery and Growth”, the forum was supported by Huawei and moderated by Sharoda Rapeti, non-executive partner, Delta Partners.
Introducing the session, the general secretary of the ATU, John Omo spoke about digital transformation as the driver of inclusive economic growth, job creation, the improvement of public service delivery and the optimisation of business services in Africa.
“Africa needs digital innovation to spill over into all segments of business and society if we are to strengthen our digital economy,” he said. “According to the World Bank, Africa requires $100-trillion to achieve full digital transformation, and no one in the public or private sector has the capacity to do this alone. Through the power of investment and of regulation, together we can craft a framework that will give effect to the growth and development we want to see.”
Making connections: Leo Chen, Huawei president of the southern Africa region.
Leo Chen, Huawei president of the southern Africa region, emphasised the three major elements of digital transformation: digital infrastructure, digital services and digital skills.
“If we do these three things well, we can connect the unconnected people and businesses, fully unleash digital productivity and develop the digital economy, no matter what its definition is,” he said.
“To achieve this, Huawei innovates to make an impact with local partners, to find local solutions to local problems,” Chen said. “We are a leading global ICT company, and technology is our most important asset. We want to keep what matters the most in Africa. That is why we have made significant investments in people and skills transfer, through training, certification and joint innovation.”
Forum guests were in consensus that digital infrastructure is fundamental to ensuring the digital transformation of their respective countries. Francis Bisika, principal secretary of e-Government in Malawi, said that 2 300km of fibre network has been installed across the country, including in remote rural areas.
“We are addressing the issue of connectivity, especially in rural areas. We are also bringing fibre to homes as well as businesses. Once we have the connectivity, we can address the issue of digital literacy,” he said. “We have also built a government data centre in which we are accommodating businesses and individual’s requests for networking and storage, making ICT facilities available to as many Malawians as possible.”
Networking solutions: Moderator Sharoda Rapeti, non-executive partner, Delta Partners, addresses the audience.
What the guest speakers also had in common was the integration of the digitisation process through all government ministries, departments and agencies, for example incorporating technology into agriculture and education systems.
“The digital sector has been given authority in Zambia,” said Percy Chinyama, national coordinator of the SMART Zambia Institute. “We are working to maximise the work of revenue-generating departments and to reduce duplications of work and now have 240 government services online.”
ICT and climate change share equal importance in Namibia, said Emma Theofelus, deputy minister of Information and Communication Technology. “Digitisation and energy efficiency go hand-in-hand,” she said. “We are committed to working to increase levels of digitisation and reducing our impact on climate change.”
Another theme was that of the inclusion of young people in the continent’s digital transformation. Given that 60% of Africa’s population is under 25, harnessing and retaining the innovation of its young people is critical for the future of Africa.
“Even as we have increased the number of tertiary education institutions, levels of unemployment remain a problem, and so we are working towards greater job creation for graduates,” said Chris Baryomunsi, Ugandan Minister for ICT and National Guidance.
The forum closed with the signature of a joint communique where all participants agreed that the development of the digital economy is measurable. In order to develop the digital economy, countries need to have in place a top-level strategy and an implementation roadmap with clear objectives, indicators and milestones. They also need favourable policies to encourage investment, improve efficiency and enable the infrastructure, skills, digital ecology and innovation needed to grow the digital economy and create a fair business environment for all investors.