- 22/11/2023
- 18:00 - 19:30 CET
- Berlin and online
Panel dicussion: Policymaking and regulation of Africa’s digital transformation
In this panel discussion organised by the Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School, in cooperation with Smart Africa and GIZ, Thelma Efua Quaye (Smart Africa) and Anna Sophie Herken (GIZ) discuss the achievements, challenges and opportunities of multilateral governance of digital transformation in Africa.
The African continent has made great strides in recent years in the area of high-speed broadband connections – one of the most important in terms of the growth of the digital economy. However, not everyone benefits equally from the digital transformation: while on the one hand sub-Saharan Africa has the highest user growth rates worldwide, nevertheless only a good third (34%) of the 1.3 billion people living in the region regularly use the internet. This is due on the one hand to the high cost of internet access and on the other hand to a lack of infrastructure. This makes internet access unaffordable for lower-income sections of the population, although it is precisely this section of the population that could benefit most from digital technologies and better connectivity.
Better regulation and good policy are needed to facilitate and equitably shape the population’s participation in the digital transformation. The panel addresses achievements and challenges, opportunities and promising directions for ICT regulation and policymaking on the continent, and talks about how Smart Africa is building policymakers’ capacity to craft inclusive, gender-sensitive and climate-friendly ICT regulations.
Smart Africa, as an alliance of 39 member states, aims to accelerate sustainable, socioeconomic development and make the African continent a knowledge-based economy through affordable access to broadband and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). The initiative aims to create a digital single market on the African continent by 2030.
Participants:
- Opening panel discussion by Cornelia Woll, President of the Hertie School.
- Thelma Efua Quaye, head of the Digital InfrastructurePprogram at Smart Africa
- Anna Sophie Herken, Member of the Executive Board of GIZ
- Moderated by Leslis Mills, Master of Public Policy candidate at the Hertie School