Africa needs to increase access to internet if digital trade is to be meaningful, says Vera Songwe

Abstract

A two-day conference on “Digital Trade in Africa: Implications for Inclusion and Human Rights”, opened in Addis Ababa Thursday, with a high level panel discussion on the importance of digital technologies in the advancement of trade and Africa’s development. The panelists at the opening session were Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary, Economic Commissioner for Africa; UNCTAD’s Secretary-General, Mukhisa Kituyi; former ECA Executive Secretary, Carlos Lopes; and Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy. Ms. Songwe hailed Kenya for leading the continent in terms of internet penetration, adding much more still needs to be done across Africa for digital trade to make a difference. She said the human rights part of the digital economy debate was important and should be discussed more on the continent. Ms. Songwe cautioned that too much government intervention could kill innovation. The ECA Chief talked about India’s growing digital space which has opened vast economic opportunities for its citizens and what Africa could learn from the south Asian country. The Internet of Things industry in India is expected to reach $15 billion by 2020 with the digital infrastructure creating tremendous opportunities for technology players and in key applications such as smart cities, smart utilities, smart healthcare, smart transportation and more.