Smart Africa hosts 14th Steering Committee Meeting of the Smart Africa Alliance

Charting Africa's Digital Agenda

Posted on 2020-09-04 by gnhongo in Technology // 0 Comments

KIGALI, Rwanda, 2020-Sep-04 — /EPR Network/ — Smart Africa hosted its 14^th Steering Committee meeting on the 26^th of August. This meeting updated partners and members on Smart Africa’s core deliverables for the just ended calendar year and the goals for the coming year.

The attending members of the Steering Committee included:

Ministers and Ministerial delegations of ICT from: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, The Kingdom of Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia & Zimbabwe.
Heads of Development Partner Organisations from: International Telecommunications Union (co-chair), African Union (co-chair), Africa Telecommunications Union, AfDB, GSMA, BMZ, GIZ & NORAD
Heads of Private Sector members: Inmarsat, Huawei, Econet, CIB (Egypt), MTN Group, Tahaluf Al Emarat Technical Solutions L.L.C, Orange, PWC, Global Voice Group, Facebook, Rohde & Schwarz, Omidyar Network

“The progress that we are making towards developing Africa into a Single Digital Market by 2030 is only possible through the collective effort of the member countries, partners and private sector members of the Smart Africa Alliance. We are making significant progress with regards to key blueprints and projects and we have grown our team and impact to match the progress we are realizing across the continent. The next year will see an escalation of the progress as we move towards our vision,” said Mr. Lacina Koné, the Director General and CEO of Smart Africa.

The meeting saw the launch of the following blueprints and whitepapers:

Smart Broadband Strategy 2025 with the government of the Republic of Senegal
Smart Villages Blueprint with the government of the Republic of Niger
Digital Identity Blueprint with the government of the Republic of Benin
Start-Ups and Innovation Ecosystems Blueprint with the government of the Republic of Tunisia
Launch of Smart Africa’s Blockchain whitepaper in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Smart Africa also updated delegates on initiatives such as:

The One Africa Network (OAN)
Intra-African Connectivity
Bulk Purchase
Skills Development and Capacity Building
- Smart Africa Digital Academy
- Smart Africa Scholarship Fund
- Atingi – the E-learning platform
Digital Economy Benchmark Report
Data Protection and Privacy Output
Smart Cities National Strategies

The meeting also went ahead to approve Smart Africa’s triennial strategy.

End.

About Smart Africa

Smart Africa is a bold and innovative commitment to accelerate sustainable socioeconomic development on the continent and usher Africa into the knowledge economy through affordable access to broadband and use of ICTs. With a vision to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030, the Smart Africa Alliance brings together Heads of State who seek to accelerate the digitalization of the continent and create a common market. Launched in 2013 by seven (7) African Heads of State, the Alliance now has 30 member countries, representing over 750 million people and over 40 Private Sector members committed to the vision and the advancement of Africa.

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