NAN-F-
ICT
by Isaac Aregbesola
Kilgali, May 10, 2017 (NAN)President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Leaders and Delegates from Africa on Wednesday said closing the Digital Divide is critical to social and economic development of he continent.
The stakeholders stated this in Kigali at the opening ceremony of a three-day ICT summit tagged Transform Africa Summit 2017.
Kagame who said in his opening remark that the prosperity of the continent was hinged on the growth of information technology stressed that women should be in the centre of technology development.
He told delegates at a major ICT summit that “as long as women and girls are lagging behind, Africa is not on the right track of advancing technology.
“Africa is not as prosperous as it should be because our cities are too small and disconnected.
“This situation is changing rapidly and Africa looks set to emerge as one of the planet’s great centres of growth, innovation, and opportunity in the generations ahead”.
He however warned that the continent had to be fully connected with high speed internet to achieve this..
“We cannot take this trend for granted. This puts the urgency and relevance of the Smart Africa agenda into its proper context.
“The word ‘smart’ is really about leveraging digital technologies to narrow the gap between the high quality services we need, and those we can afford, and to do so quickly.
“We can work together to put technology in the hands of the citizens of our continent in order to build inclusive and sustainable places to live,” he said.
According to him only 20 per cent of Africans has internet access and there are only three years left to meet the Broadband Commission’s target of 50 per cent.
He said however, that this must be regarded as an opportunity for stronger public-private collaboration.
Kagame said that access to technology and information must also not distinguish between rich and poor, or between urban and rural people.
He said that Africa looks set to emerge as one of the planet’s great centres of growth, innovation and opportunity in future generations.
Also Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet corroborated Kagame’s position and stressed that Africa needed internet and technology more than anything else.
For instance, he said in the past two years, the data consumed globally has never been consumed since mankind.
For technology and innovation to flourish on the continent, Masiyiwa advised that African entrepreneurs should be given an enabling, friendly and sensitive working environment.
“Before end of the century, there are going to be over 40 billion people on the planet. There will be massive cities in Africa,” Masiyiwa said.
Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), commended for his unmatched efforts to push internet connectivity by regularly attending the meetings.
The Secretary General of ITU offered full support to the Broadband Commission to help transform Africa.
“Africa is leading the way. You have created a Smart Africa scholarship fund, shaping the new leaders.”
Dr Hamadoun Toure, Executive Director of the Smart Africa Alliance, said he hopes, “to move forward on Smart cities vision and advance cities through ICTs.”
He said that about 3.5 billion people live in cities around the world.
This figure, Toure said should be “an opportunity to develop strategies on new ways to shape and accelerate Africa’s digital revolution.”
By doing this, he added, “We want to empower Smart Africa member states to become smart economies.”
Currently, there are 18 member states of Smart Africa Alliance, with more new members expected to join during this three-day conference, Toure said. (NAN)
IAA/SH
by Sadiya Hamza