President Paul Kagame has emphasized the need to embrace the use of technology in daily lives which is increasingly becoming a prerequisite upon which the good jobs of the future will rely on.
Kagame was yesterday speaking at the 9th Smart Africa Board Meeting during which he joined other Heads of State and Government, their representatives and other delegates.
President Kagame said that seven more countries have joined Smart Africa since the last Board Meeting, in May 2019. This brought membership to 31 countries. The new members are; Algeria, Cap Verde, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Morocco, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. The organization also got new membership from the private sector, including Tahaluf Al Emarat, BICS, and Softbank.
To this end, President Kagame emphasized the importance of the partnership with the private sector for smart Africa and stressed the need for increased investments in technology which is at the helm of future progress.
'We place a high value on what you as business leaders bring to these efforts. We will continue working together with you very closely, to make the necessary investments and also ensure a common standing of how to proceed. This is especially evident in the process of recovering from Covid. The pandemic has shown that connectivity is not a luxury, it is a necessity,' he said.
'Increasingly, the provision of education and health services depends on digital infrastructure. The good jobs of the future will also rely on technology skills, and a digital identity. The mission of Smart Africa really seats the center of everything we are trying to do, as a continent and with our partners around the world,' added Kagame.
The meeting also assessed ways of reducing internet cost by 2025, the master plan for developed rural areas, seeking how to start Smart Africa embassies and establishment of Smart Africa Academy among others.
Smart Africa is a bold and innovative commitment from African Heads of State and Government to accelerate sustainable socio- economic development on the continent, ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through affordable access to Broadband and usage of Information and Communications Technologies.
Other Partners of the Smart Africa Alliance include the African Union, the ITU, World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSMA) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
IGIHE
Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/smart-jobs-will-rely-on-technology-skills-digital-identity-kagame
