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Africa must digitise

Joanne Carew
By Joanne Carew, ITWeb Cape-based contributor.
Johannesburg, 26 Jun 2013

In Africa, jobs that are dependent on broadband will increase by 30% in the next five years. A $10 billion investment in broadband and digital access will create about one million jobs across the African continent.

"Global economies are moving towards an almost total dependency on digital infrastructures," said Nicholas Okoye, president and CEO of the Anabel Group, during his presentation at the third annual Digital Services Africa conference, in Sandton, this week.

Despite this, the situation in many government departments across the African continent sees desks piled high with paper and files. In the digital age, this is no longer practical, Okoye noted, stressing that African leaders need to embrace digitisation should they wish to compete in the global marketplace.

"When we talk about the movement to digitising in government agencies, we need to show leaders that digitising processes creates jobs," he said, noting that many efforts are already in place within various sectors. "Folks are slowly beginning to take advantage of digital technologies in Africa. The opportunity to embrace digitisation in this region is mind-boggling, and those of us who are driving the digital revolution have our jobs set out for us."

According to Okoye, digital solutions allow for improvements in areas that are not often considered. "There are digital opportunities in areas that stimulate development, that stimulate democracy and drive the building of new societies in Africa," he said, mentioning things like e-voting, e-registration for schools and universities, and e-money, among others.

He noted that opportunities are particularly evident in government, education and medicine. "It is not just about providing infrastructure; it is about converting analogue systems into digital formats," he said, adding that business and government need to make this shift because younger generations are already so entrenched in the digital space and thus are calling for the adaptation of digital formats.

"From the time many youngsters started going to school, they were using digital offerings. So it is easier for them to adapt to digital platforms in every aspect of their lives," he said. "For young people, we need clear vision, solid strategy, practical systems and consistent execution." Despite this, he stressed that cultural beliefs can still sometimes be a stumbling block in Africa.

Okoye concluded that all of these insights are useless unless they are implemented. "Information only becomes power when it is put to work."

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