The United Nations (UN) has called on African leaders to speed up the digital transformation in Africa in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The call was made during a virtual session organised by the African World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

Many technology experts and development analysts, Development Diaries understand, see Covid-19 as a speeding agent for Africa’s digital economy.

Due to the contagion, several African countries declared a lockdown and, in some cases, restrictions in some areas for fear of the virus spreading given the capacity of healthcare systems to cope with potential outbreaks.

The lockdowns and restrictions necessitated people to go online while in self-quarantine.

‘This need to go online was possible due to the rapid uptake of smartphones in Africa in which a one third (around 226 million) of the mobile subscribers (about 725 million mobile subscribers) use smartphones in Africa’, WSIS said in a report.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Covid-19: A Catalyst to Achieving WSIS Outcomes’, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Regional Director for Africa, Andrew Rugege, said that the Covid-19 pandemic had further demonstrated the practicality of an information society.

Participants noted that harnessing digital technologies and innovation to transform African societies and economies was critical to the continent’s development challenges, not only to promote Africa’s integration but also to generate inclusive economic growth, stimulate job creation, bridge the growing digital divide and eradicate poverty.

The Director of the Technology, Climate Change, and Natural Resources Management Division at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Jean-Paul Adam, said that ICTs can play a crucial role in lives and can greatly contribute to the implementation of the SDGs.

‘They (ICTs) provide new solutions and where appropriate infrastructure, skills, and services are available, they can be incredibly powerful in transforming education, healthcare, or the way we do businesses’, Adam said.

‘Our main challenge remains the digital divide that is today widespread in Africa with a very low rate of connectivity’.

It is anticipated that there is huge potential for digital impact in Africa.

But to achieve that, African countries, experts say, need to ensure impactful use of the WSIS action lines of harnessing ICTs to fight Covid-19 to support the implementation of the SDGs and the Agenda 2063 during the decade of Action.

Source: WSIS Forum Ecofin Agency