IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Internet Society will call for the adoption of policies and frameworks that expand access and create greater demand for the Internet during the 4th annual Africa Internet Summit (AIS) now underway in Gaborone, Botswana.

Urging policymakers to grasp the opportunity offered by the expansion and growth of the Internet across the continent, the Internet Society will advocate for greater collaboration by all Internet decision-makers in creating an accessible, trusted Internet that benefits all Africans.

A few years ago, I was in Lagos to see Alphabet’s digital skills programs at work. There was excitement for the future of technology in Africa and all the jobs and opportunities it could bring. From jobseekers learning new skills to entrepreneurs building promising new apps and businesses, the people I met were deeply inspiring.

These people were on my mind again when I addressed regional leaders at the African Union’s annual Business Forum this week.

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.

Clive Shepherd, an expert in human resource development, says the ICT sector in Africa is in a unique position. “The biggest obstacle,” he says, “is no longer technology, but the willingness to take advantage of new pportunities and technologies. And it’s a very exciting position to be in.”

The African eHealth Economics Forum, Cape Town, which forms part of The Global Health Economics Series, was held recently at the One & Only Hotel. The forum focused on three major elements of eHealth projects; assessment of eHealth projects, financial aspects of project implementation and economics of mobile health.

One of the biggest challenges of eHealth project implementation is the complexity of tracking success of pilot projects and presenting benefits to key stakeholders and key healthcare providers. Healthcare delivery is a complex process and eHealth interventions have been cited to have been lost in this complexity.

Many African countries have made significant progress toward creating an Internet sector, with broad sector reforms and focus on increasing broadband availability. However, there is still much work to be done to strengthen the Internet sector and to create an Internet economy in Africa.

This is according to a report by Internet Society titled “Promoting the African Internet Economy” which looks at Internet adoption and usage by companies and governments throughout Africa.

Increasing broadband services should improve Africa's telecom sector as more African countries move to implement e-governance, e-learning and e-health programs, which have been hindered by the region's insufficient broadband infrastructure and capacity.

Africa’s progress and economic growth is being realised in part due to the role that information and communication technologies are playing, President Paul Kagame said.

He was addressing participants attending the Viva Technology Conference, known as “VivaTech” in Paris, France.

Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) is finalizing the shipment of new construction equipment for new smart cities in Congo, Botswana and Sierra Leone that will begin in January 2024.

The construction will follow MMTC's inaugural Marathon scheduled to take place on December 16th, 2023, at MMTC in Butere Sub County Kakamega County.

The city's architectural design integrates solar power, rainwater collection and utilisation into its infrastructure.

Africa is increasingly positioning itself as an attractive investment destination in the global tech landscape.

With a population of over one billion and a substantial talent pool, the continent represents a significant financial opportunity for investors.

The major development is expected to boost the country's economic growth.

A huge multi-billion-pound technology city is being developed in one of Africa's most well-known countries. Konzo Technopolis, also known as Silicon Savannah, is a £11 billion project by Kenya's Government that involves the construction of a planned city designed to strengthen science, innovation, and technology, thereby boosting the country's economic growth.

The development is being constructed 39 miles south of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, across a 5,000-acre land. The groundbreaking for the tech hub was done in January 2013, but construction work faced various delays. As of now, the city is being built in phases, with Phase One nearly complete.

As a flagship project under Kenya’s Vision 2030, Konza Technopolis is being developed with world-class infrastructure, including green energy solutions, affordable housing, conferencing facilities, and cutting-edge digital services.

Kenya is accelerating the development of Konza Technopolis, positioning it as a leading Smart City in Africa. The initiative was highlighted during a tour of the Silicon Savannah by Hon. William Kabogo Gitau, along with colleagues Hon. Rebecca Miano and Hon. Lee Kinyanjui, aimed at strengthening partnerships to drive growth in ICT, tourism, investment, and industrialization.

The survey by the research firm CPS international, sponsored by the Pan African Education Trust, found East African universities to be increasingly embracing ICT in teaching and learning and comparing favourably with international universities in the use of technology.

In this exclusive interview with John Paul Okwiri, CEO of Konza Technopolis, Kenya’s ambitious smart city project, we explore the transformative role Konza is playing in advancing Kenya’s digital economy and achieving Vision 2030. Dubbed the African Silicon Savannah, Konza is positioned as a leading innovation ecosystem and Special Economic Zone, designed to attract global investors in ICT-enabled services, life sciences, engineering, and digital infrastructure.

Konza has successfully completed Phase One infrastructure, including clean water systems, high-speed internet, energy distribution, stormwater drainage, and the establishment of a Tier III Uptime Certified National Data Center. With more than 100 out of 147 land parcels allocated, the city now offers a plug-and-play environment for investors looking to enter the African tech investment space.

Recently, there was a lot of excitement stirred up when Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile operator, released the Application Program Interface (API) for its mobile money service M-PESA to local and international developers.

The value in this release lies in the opportunities for integration to mobile money which developers of applications and solutions now possess. In its announcement, Safaricom took the time to spell out some of the opportunities that this move was introducing to the app development space and it pledged to organise workshops where issues around the integration would be explored.

Nic Rudnick, CEO of The Liquid Telecom Group, has outlined the company’s expansion of its fibre network in South Africa and announced that CrashPlan, its backup and restore service, is now available to businesses across Africa.

Liquid Telecom will be investing around R250 million (US$ 17.5 million) in laying new fibre in South Africa’s northern provinces, providing connectivity to the major cities and towns. Wholesale capacity will be available to mobile and fixed-line operators, other service providers and businesses of all sizes.

This technological and indeed digital revolution is increasingly leaving no area uninfluenced by its radical transformation.