ECA and GEG-AFRICA organize joint workshop on “Digital transformation in Africa: leveraging the promise and addressing new challenges”

Abstract

The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in partnership with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) supported Global Economic Governance Africa (GEGAFRICA), organized a workshop on “Digital Transformation in Africa: Leveraging the Promise and Addressing New Challenges” on 10 September in Pretoria, South Africa. The workshop was attended by South African Policy makers from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), civil society, private sector, academia and experts from across the continent in digitalization, trade, human rights and development. ECA and GEG-AFRICA officials were also in attendance. The workshop concluded with a set of concrete recommendations to pave forward African policymaking in the digital era. These included the urgent need for revolutionary skills development to position Africans, in particular the youth and women, to participate in and gain from digitalization; horizontal integration and coordination across government and with the private sector on digital issues; and the development of a continental framework for cooperation and benchmarking on digital trade, including e-commerce.