The writer is special adviser on Africa to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and former finance minister of Cabo Verde.
Viral Facts Africa, a first of its kind African initiative to combat health misinformation online, was launched recently by the World Health Organization (WHO) and a network of fact-checking organizations and leading public health bodies.
UNITED NATIONS, May 7 2021 (IPS) - In rebuilding after COVID-19, policymakers must invest in innovative technology to leapfrog obstacles to inclusive development. Africa has enjoyed strong economic growth for most of the 21st century, mainly because of robust global demand for primary commodities.
But the “Africa Rising” narrative that accompanied this growth is mostly a story of rising GDP, which is overly one-dimensional. In fact, Africa’s economic growth has failed to generate many good jobs postponing, once again, the benefits of the demographic dividend of a large working-age population.
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It’s been said before, but it bears repeating – the COVID-19 pandemic offers Africa the chance to leapfrog development through digitisation, and potentially position itself as a global digital powerhouse.
And while the private sector has an important role to play in this development, governments across Africa have a critical role to play in enabling digitisation, through infrastructure development, but also in digitising their own systems and processes and by creating an enabling environment using regulatory and legal tools.
Developments such as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) reinforce the urgent need for governments to digitise to enable not just trade, but positive economic growth across the continent.
African Govts must Digitise to be Innovative thisdaylive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thisdaylive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
April 18, 2021 Share
On February 24, 2021, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched the Office’s Strategic Vision for Africa 2030. According to the UNODC, Africa has made considerable gains towards the Sustainable Development Goals and the aspirations of the Agenda 2063 of the African Union: The Africa We Want. Yet progress in several areas is not advancing at the scale nor speed required. Around the globe and in Africa, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse progress, hitting those most vulnerable hardest, and risking them being left behind further. Africa can leverage its many opportunities to help strengthen resilience to its challenges: the increasing youth demographic can come together in collective action for a sustainable future; Africa’s commitment towards digital transformation and technology is bold and can drive fast-paced growth and foster inclusion; Africa’s single market, wealth of natural resources and biodiversit