Cape Times

Africa faces digitalisa­tion hurdles

‘We need to ensure that this… revolution is supported.’

- Xinhua

AFRICA’S poor infrastruc­ture was threatenin­g to black out its ambitious digital revolution, experts said at the regional Internatio­nal Telecommun­ication Union (ITU) conference in Kigali.

Informatio­n technology experts observed that poor transport, communicat­ion and energy infrastruc­tures posed a serious threat to the digital revolution.

Rwanda hosted the forum from Tuesday till yesterday ahead of the World Telecommun­ication Developmen­t Conference 2017 (WTDC-17) in Buenos Aires.

Speaking at the meeting yesterday, Ibrahim Sanou, the director of the ITU Telecommun­ication Developmen­t Bureau, said due to poor infrastruc­ture, Africa’s share of global technologi­cal revolution was drasticall­y disproport­ionate to its population.

“Africa should not wait until the train of the next industrial revolution has passed,” Sanou said. “Digital transforma­tion of African economies is lucrative.”

In the last five years, Africa has undergone a phenomenon that analysts refer to as the continent’s “digital revolution”.

However, inadequate or poor infrastruc­ture developmen­t has derailed the growth of technology advancemen­ts.

The meeting attracted informatio­n and communicat­ion technology (ICT) policymake­rs, regulators, industry, academia, regional and internatio­nal developmen­t agencies and organisati­ons from Africa and beyond to discuss specific regional telecommun­ication and ICT issues.

According to the World Bank, only 40percent of Africans had reliable energy supply, and just 20percent of people on the continent had Internet access.

Jean Philbert Nsengimana, the Rwandan Minister of Youth and ICT, said addressing infrastruc­ture challenges meant advancing digital revolution.

“We are at the dawn of a technologi­cal revolution that will change almost every part of our lives. We need to ensure that this wave of digital revolution is supported by investment­s in infrastruc­tural growth to enable smooth transition from analogue to digital technologi­es,” he noted.

Analysts said the constructi­on of undersea fiber-optic cables, coupled with a full embrace of mobile technology, was yet to redefine Africa’s ICT landscape.

Power was Africa’s biggest infrastruc­ture weak point, with up to 30 countries facing regular power outages, according to a 2015 report by the World Bank.

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