Africa’s adoption of technology central to WEF 2016

Published May 11, 2016

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Kigali - As Rwanda this morning rolls out the red carpet for government, business and civil society leaders at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, the focus will be firmly on the need for African countries to adopt technology in order to encourage economic growth and diversify their economies.

WEF director Oliver Cann said yesterday that harnessing the potential of technological innovation would present African countries with opportunities to transform their economies beyond relying on natural resources.

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Cann said there was a good chance for Africa to capitalise on the technology revolution and leapfrog other regions.

Tech innovations

“For instance, African countries could use technology to improve their health-care systems without going the route of building hospitals,” Cann said.

“M-Pesa, the cellphone-based money transfer service, has made banking accessible for millions of Kenyans.”

But he warned that the adoption of technology came with its own difficulties.

“How many jobs are going to be lost in manufacturing and mining? That is a big challenge,” he said. “Secondly, there is the issue of inequality. It is a global phenomenon but in Africa it is worse. Can countries afford to lose middle- to low-income jobs?”

Cann said some African countries were already taking the lead on certain technological innovations and pointed to the advent of technology-based payments.

He said while there was potential for technological innovation, this had to go hand in hand with support for entrepreneurs. “I am referring to access to credit, access to markets and support in terms of supply of a well-trained workforce.

“Africa’s greatest resource is its people,” he added.

Digital pioneers

Mercantile Bank consulting economist Trudi Makhaya said on Monday that digital pioneers needed a supportive ecosystem in order to thrive. She said South Africa, for instance, was not fully taking advantage of technology.

“South Africa can be a laboratory of how to use cutting-edge technologies to accelerate economic growth. However, the country is not living up to this potential as it is difficult to fund bold, innovative businesses and many would-be innovators lack the foundation of a good education,” she said.

Cann said WEF’s main expectation for this year was to fix problems that were well-known to the leaders.

He said WEF was already doing a lot of work on the structuring of infrastructure finance, with a view to encourage so-called blended finance, which entails blending public and private capital to finance development goals.

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