Untapped opportunities

Abdelmonem Fawzi

We lived with the global Covid-19 pandemic in the past two years.

The pandemic taught us a lesson: the world is so interconnected and its problems so interwoven that it would be impossible for one group, one country, or one continent to find a solution alone.

Our problem is that the world’s telecommunications need specialists in specific services like data analytics and machine learning. People specialized in the provision of these services are difficult to recruit in many African countries.

A 2019 study by the International Finance Corporation found that by 2030 over 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills.

At the same time, it is estimated that one-third of Africa’s nearly 420 million young people are still unemployed — an immense potential pool of talent that is actively seeking opportunities.

“So many people in Africa, particularly youth, are struggling to find jobs,” said Michael Niyitegeka, the Programme Director Refactory at Clarke International University in Uganda.

“But the problem is that they do not have either the technical knowledge or the practical tools to succeed in a professional environment,” he added.

Refactory is a tailored programme that helps youth to develop their software and employability skills to match growing demand in the tech sector.

That is probably why the African Union and the European Union teamed up to co-host the first Africa-Europe D4D Hub Multi-Stakeholder Forum, which took place virtually under the theme “Digital transformation for sustainable development in Africa”.

The purpose of the event is to give the floor to the digital communities in both continents and listen to different perspectives on what the priorities for joint action should be.

Panelists and participants suggested that participatory processes, co-creative approaches, and equitable frameworks are needed if we want to build a digital future where nobody is left behind.

“Communities, especially vulnerable and disadvantaged ones, must participate in the design of digital identity systems,” said Udbhav Tiwari, senior public policy manager at Mozilla.

Regarding multi-stakeholder participation, Nanjira Sambuli, fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: “We need to be very clear about the goals: is it just a consultation process, or do we make decisions, or are we the ones to enforce those decisions once they are made? Managing these expectations is very important to keep drawing the participation of all stakeholders, especially of smaller players who work on the ground”.

Towela Nyirenda-Jere, head of Economic Integration at the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD said: “Let us steer away from calling it ‘digital economy’ — digital is an integral part of all sectors of the economy.”

This view was also shared by Kristina Mänd of the e-Governance Academy. She said digital is part of everything we do.

“We should not look at it separately,” Mänd said.

“It is important that we invest in technologies that are renewable,” said Thabo Mashegoane, board chairman at Africa ICT Alliance.

Alison Gillwald, executive director of Research ICT Africa, reflected on the need for economic regulations that focus on a fair distribution of its opportunities.

“We need second and third generation economic and social digital rights to create a more equitable digital environment that will make better the current uneven distribution of both opportunities and harms,” he said.

Teki Akuetteh, founder of the Africa Digital Rights’ Hub asked about the involvement of the informal sector in the protocols being built to make sure that it can participate effectively in the 3-billion-market that is Africa.

Ruth Negash, CEO of the COMESA Federation of Women in Business, said digital transformation does not only support women in safety and security, but also in terms of time and convenience.

“They [women] can combine household work with running a digital business.” Negash said. “They do not want to go back.”

Sharing, exchanging, and learning from each other are essential to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship, said the panelists.

One of their main recommendations, therefore, was to create opportunities for networking and collaboration between digital ecosystems in both continents.

“We want to strengthen digital innovation ecosystems in African countries and link them to those in European countries,” said Carla Montesi, director for the Green Deal and the Digital Agenda at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships.

“Exchange between networks is vital for boosting the digital economy and creating an added value, and of course jobs,” said Robert Sanders, team leader for BIC Africa at the European Business and Innovation Centre Network.

The Africa-Europe D4D Hub Multi-Stakeholder Forum was the first step in what we expect will be a journey of multi-stakeholder engagement facilitated by the AU-EU. D4D Hub project will include a second edition of the event that will be held in 2023.

Digital technologies offer untapped opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation, even in sectors that have traditionally not been tech-oriented, such as agriculture, healthcare, or tourism.

As more industries and services turn to digital solutions, however, they will also need to hire more tech-savvy professionals.

To sum this up, we need to support start-ups and small enterprises by creating new partnership structures or even incentives or subsidies.

Partners or governments could shoulder some of the costs of hiring skilled talent.