Digital transformation: Africa on track

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MARRAKECH - Africa’s rising status as a global leader in digital transformation was firmly cemented at the inaugural GITEX Africa 2023 digital summit as tech leaders from across the continent and the world gathered to collaborate and pledge their commitments to accelerating cross-continent investment opportunities.  

GITEX Africa summit was held in Marrakech, Morocco with thousands of attendees across its 45,000 sqm of exhibition expanse, with government ministers and private sector executives alike celebrating the collective achievements, and more importantly, advancing the future ambitions of a continent determined to elevate its entrepreneurial innovation economy.

Uganda's Minister for Science and Technology Innovations Dr Monica Musenero was the keynote speaker. 

She said is committed to addressing bottles necks and funding the required infrastructure to spur digital transformation.

‌"There is some progress registered. Frame work in terms of legislation and policies are in place," the minister noted.

‌Creating Africa’s own Silicon Valley

Babajide Sanwo-olu, Executive Governor of the Lagos State in Nigeria, was among the keynote speakers at the GITEX Africa Digital Summit.  The Lagos Governor explained how Africa is on the fast track to become the next Silicon Valley.

He also stressed the importance of investing in African youth, which makes up over 60 percent of the continent’s population, while noting that, according to studies, around 30 percent of investment in Africa is dedicated to the digital economy.

Sanwo-olu said Lagos is already home to some of Africa’s largest data centres, while the state’s Start-Up Act 2022 and Knowledge, Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (KITE) Project in the Yaba suburb are propelling Lagos, and Nigeria into a hub of global innovation. 

“The Yaba Start-Up policy will elevate Lagos as a city ready to become a global player,” said Sanwo-olu. “In a few years, not only will Africa be supplying the bulk of professionals required (in the global IT industry) but it will also be creating a lot of jobs.

“In ten years, Africa will become the place where major global companies such as Microsoft and Meta, will come to recruit intelligent profiles trained in the technical fields in which Africa abounds.”

In its debut edition, GITEX Africa features 900 exhibiting companies and start-ups eager to gain access to meaningful and valuable connections for business development while learning about the vast opportunities in the world’s rising digital economy.