Public Management

Public Management (500)

The Ivorian government is multiplying digital initiatives to boost young people and women’s employability, promote innovation and reduce unemployment.   

In Côte d’Ivoire, Communication Minister Amadou Coulibaly (photo, right), and Minister of Trade Souleymane Diarrassouba (photo, left) launched the Employment4Youth program last Thursday.

The program’s full name is "Employment4Youth / Industry 4.0 to promote youth employment in Tunisia and Côte d'Ivoire. It was launched in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It aims to support and strengthen stakeholders’ capacity in the ICT and agribusiness sectors to ease access to the opportunities presented by the fourth industrial revolution as well as create jobs for women and the youth with the adoption of new technologies in targeted value chains.

"Our country wants to ensure that the digital economy is a growth sector by creating jobs for the youth and promoting investments,” said Amadou Coulibaly, before stressing that the government's goal is to make Côte d’Ivoire a fully digitized country by 2030.  Last September 26, the country set up a National Digitalization Committee, that will, among other things, elaborate a framework governing digitization efforts for an effective digital transformation.

In 2011, the Ivorian government initiated several digital reforms including the adoption of the National Digital Strategy. The strategy is focused on seven pillars. It suggests 32 reforms and 96 projects requiring a XOF2,000 billion (US$3.15 billion) investment to be implemented over 2021-2025.

According to Amadou Coulibaly, the Employment4Youth program is part of this strategy. It is also in line with the structural transformation promoted by the president of the republic to make digital transformation an effective solution to youth employability. The initiative will be based on Industry 4.0 or the industry of the future which uses artificial intelligence, big data, digital technologies, blockchain, e-commerce, etc. It will create 13,000 jobs (3,000 direct jobs) by 2025 in the private sector (social and ecological transformation, renewable energy, ICT, agribusiness, etc.). The estimated investment required is US$30 million.

Samira Njoya

Posted On lundi, 14 novembre 2022 12:43 Written by

The platform aims to develop the Egyptian industrial sector, which grew by 6.5% and contributed 17% to GDP in 2021. 

Egypt will soon launch a digital industrial platform. For that purpose, last November 2, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and financial service provider E-finance -a subsidiary of eFinance Investment Group- signed a memorandum of cooperation for the development and management of the said platform. 

The platform aims to offer investors and manufacturers improved services, accelerate the exploitation process and streamline the required procedures. Using the platform, firms can test the new services before presenting them to their clients. 

According to Business Today Egypt, the “platform also offers other services such as cloud platforms, secure infrastructure, internet of things, cybersecurity applications, artificial intelligence, big data, and more.”

Like several African countries, Egypt is betting on digital transformation to accelerate its development. In 2017, the country became an attractive hub for large tech firms, thanks notably to strategic actions taken by the government. 

The new platform is therefore one of the government’s actions to accelerate existing digital transformation efforts.

According to the statement announcing the signing, the platform will be launched at the Cairo ICT conference, which will be held on November 27-30, 2022, in collaboration with global digital transformation pioneers such as Pure Storage, Dell, IBM, Cisco, Redhat, Huawei, and many others.

The memorandum of cooperation is part of Egypt's Vision 2030 and its digital transformation strategy, which aims to enhance economic and social development across all sectors and make the country a digital hub of excellence in Africa.

Samira Njoya

Posted On mercredi, 09 novembre 2022 12:48 Written by

The move aims to introduce students to digital tools and at the same time save them from moving around with heavy books and bags.

Last Saturday, the Algerian Minister of National Education Abdelhakim Belabed met, remotely, with government officials and education directors. During the meeting, the government officials announced the upcoming inauguration of a program aimed at digitalizing textbooks.

 "More than 3 million third, fourth and fifth grade pupils will be ridden of the textbooks, that add weight to their school bags, thanks to measures approved by the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune,” said Minister Abdelhakim Belabed while urging officials to make it easy for parents to acquire the digital textbooks.

In Algeria, the issue of the weight of school bags comes up every back-to-school time.  Unions that deem the weight too heavy for students (because notably of the textbooks) have repeatedly called for a review of the educational program.

Last September, the Minister of National Education said that several "unprecedented measures" had been taken by the government to find definitive solutions to the problem. The most important of those solutions is the provision of electronic tablets to more than 1600 schools across the country.

Thanks to the tablets, students will access the digital version of their textbooks free of charge. They will access also additional resources such as videos, audio, animations, and interactive features.

The measures were included in the government program approved by the parliament. They are part of the project initiated to generalize the use of tablet computers in schools, starting from the 2022/2023 school year that kicked off in September 2022.  

Samira Njoya

Posted On mardi, 08 novembre 2022 12:48 Written by

In Africa, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the development of the e-commerce sector. The development calls for better structuring to streamline the sector and make it more efficient.

Lome will host a national e-commerce seminar from November 10 to 11, 2022. The seminar initiated by the Togolese Ministry of Trade is being organized in partnership with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

It aims to teach young Togolese entrepreneurs how to use new online marketing platforms amid the current acceleration of digital transformations and the rise of the e-commerce sector, which is presented as a major opportunity for economic actors.

New businesses are invited to register their interest in the seminar before November 7. According to the Ministry of Trade, women-led businesses are strongly encouraged to register.

Let’s note that a similar seminar is organized for actors in the textile sector, on the sidelines of the International Exhibition of African Textiles (SITA2022), being held in Lome (November 4 to 6, 2022).

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Posted On vendredi, 04 novembre 2022 14:20 Written by

In August 2021, Seychelles decided to accelerate its digital transformation for an efficient digital economy. The platform is one of the results of the strategy implemented in that regard.

Seychelles inaugurated, last Monday, "SeyID," its national digital identity platform. According to Vice President Ahmed Afif (photo), the new platform is one of the initiatives carried out by the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) to accelerate the country's digital transformation.

"Having a digital ID through the SeyID platform will not only be a means of proving your identity digitally or accessing digital public or private services. It will also allow you to digitally sign documents, another growing requirement when transacting digitally. Through this platform, digital signing will be far much easier to do compared to what is the case presently,” he said.  

According to the World Bank, in 2020, Seychelles’s GDP dropped to a negative 13.5%, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which disrupted economic activities. In February 2021, to diversify and expand its economy, the country announced plans to accelerate its digital transformation. SeyID is one of the results of that plan.

The platform is developed by WISeKey International Holding, a Swiss cybersecurity firm. It will give Seychellois the tools they need to prove their identity online, but it will also facilitate access to many public and private services that choose to integrate with the SeyID platform thanks to interconnecting application programming interfaces (APIs).

The SeyID app is already available on the Play Store. According to Finance Minister Naadir Hassan, “the SeyID platform is based on WISeKey’s WISeID platform which guarantees a high level of Digital Identity and online security.”

It “will be accessible through both web-based and mobile-based applications and both are supported with strong authentication techniques. This is to ensure the security of the SeyID platform users,” he added.

Samira Njoya

Posted On vendredi, 04 novembre 2022 13:50 Written by

The new director general was appointed to save the public postal company from its various woes.

Senegal’s public postal company “La Poste” will undergo an extensive digital transformation in the coming months, new director Mohamadou Diaïté indicates.

According to the director general, who assumed office last Monday, digital transformation is one of the priorities of the "Strategic Plan for the Expansion of the Post (PSE-P)." The said plan includes actions like the modernization of the company’s logistics, the development of electronic banking and e-commerce, and the addition of innovative financial services.

"It is not conceivable that in 2022 we will still be issuing manual receipts. We need to diversify our products and make up for our lateness to ensure improved profitability,” he said.  

In recent years, the national postal company has faced several issues affecting its operations. The issues include low-tech tools integration and poor management of customers’ new ICT needs.

To address the various issues identified, in 2021, the posts and telecommunication regulator ARPT organized a workshop for the development of a new strategy that would modernize the postal sector. The strategy focuses on four areas, including the promotion and use of ICTs to improve the overall performance of the sector.

Mohamadou Diaïté wants to ensure the continuity of the actions suggested. He plans to address the issues by "judiciously exploiting the objective and scalable opportunities presented by the" national postal company. For that purpose, an institutional transformation is needed to create a postal bank, he explained. He added that there is a need to accelerate digital transformation, diversify products and services to cover a broader range and introduce more innovation  by strengthening and modernizing logistics, electronic banking, and e-commerce

Samira Njoya

Posted On mercredi, 02 novembre 2022 13:18 Written by

Computers and smartphones are undoubtedly useful in our daily lives. However, their excessive use can have negative impacts on users’ physical and mental health. It can also negatively affect children’s psychosocial development. To prevent those consequences, Gabon is implementing awareness-raising actions.

Gabon will launch a national digital awareness campaign in the coming months. In a prelude to that campaign, last Friday, it organized a conference under the theme:  "The dangers of overexposure to screens: impacts on behavior and health." The national campaign, initiated by consulting agency Blanc Cristal and the rehabilitation center Mot à Mot, is organized thanks to the Ministry of Digital Economy’s support.

According to Virginie Mounanga, CEO of Blanc Cristal, it aims to alert parents on the dangers of overexposure to the Internet and screens. "We have met with several doctors, specialists, and school principals who complain about children and adolescents being addicted to the Internet, cutting themselves off social activities [...] and affecting school performance. So, we need to alert parents and educators of the dangers, allowing them to mitigate those impacts,” she explained.  

Gabon, like many African countries, adopted digital technologies to keep socio-economic activities going during the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic changed internet consumption habits, boosting demand for connectivity. Consequently, the average time spent in front of screens has risen sharply. This caused several health (myopia, sedentarization), behavioral (sleep and mood disorders), and social (language delays, attention disorders, and school difficulties) problems.

According to the professionals who took part in the conference, some measures need to be taken to address the problems. They include limiting internet time, turning off Wi-Fi intermittently, and developing social and family activities.

They also mentioned the Canadian method of limiting screen time for children. According to the specialists, it involves forbidding screens to children before the age of 2 and monitoring usage time for those older than 2.

Samira Njoya

Posted On mardi, 01 novembre 2022 13:20 Written by

The African digital economy is a promising sector that is expected to be worth US$712 billion by 2050, or 8.5% of continental GDP. To capitalize on its dividends, several countries are implementing digital transformation strategies. Some of them, including Côte d’Ivoire, have accelerated their plans, after the coronavirus pandemic.

Côte d’Ivoire needs more than XOF2 trillion (US$3 billion) to complete its digital infrastructure program, Digital Minister Amadou Coulibaly indicated last Friday. The official presented the estimate during a plenary session around the theme "Investing in Côte d'Ivoire", at the 10th edition of the CGECI Academy organized by the General Confederation of Enterprises of Côte d'Ivoire (CGECI) - Patronat Ivoirien.

The program includes the construction of the National Data Center and the completion of the national backbone. The two projects, slated for completion in 2025, will complement the others planned under the national digital development strategy and support economic development.

The data center will bring together, in one secure location, all the public services that the government is currently dematerializing, therefore ensuring their efficiency. As for the national backbone, it will help provide cheaper broadband -an essential requirement for enhancing access to dematerialized services and socio-economic opportunities- to every household.

According to Minister Amadou Coulibaly, a National Digitalization Committee will be set up to coordinate digital development activities. He added that the Prime Minister would launch the committee’s activities in the coming months.

The projects mentioned are part of the 2025 digital strategy developed under the Ministry of Digital Economy’s lead and adopted during the December 22, 2021, Ministerial council. The strategy suggested 32 reforms and 96 projects to be implemented over the 2021-2025 period. Its indicative budget is XOF2 trillion.  

According to the World Bank, Côte d’Ivoire could generate over US$5.5 billion and US$20 billion from the digital economy respectively by 2025 and 2050 if the strategy is effectively implemented.

Samira Njoya

Posted On lundi, 31 octobre 2022 13:29 Written by

A few years ago, the Republic of Congo kicked off its digital transformation plan. However, several areas are still left out of the benefits of those digital transformation projects because they are not yet to be fully connected to the internet. 

UNESCO and Congolese authorities will carry out the first study on universal internet access in the country.  The study was announced, last Monday, by  Fatoumata Barry Marega (photo, left), UNESCO resident representative, during an audience with Leon Juste Ibombo (photo, right), the Congolese Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital Economy.

"In just a year, the Republic of Congo gained twenty-six points in the ranking of countries that facilitate access to digital technologies. The progress is due to the digital transition, which is one of the priorities of the 2022-2026 National Development Plan," said Fatoumata Barry Marega.

In recent years, the country has taken several actions to advance its digital transformation and internet coverage.  According to the latest DataReportal report published in February, Congo's Internet penetration rate was 25.4% in early 2022. Kepios' analysis indicates that, in Congo, the number of Internet users increased by 276,000 (+23.4%) between 2021 and 2022. This means that 4.27 million people were still not using the internet in the country at the time. 

The study announced by UNESCO could begin in November. It aims to understand and assess the complexity of internet growth and its impact on the country’s development. It will also allow a proper diagnosis and suggest adequate solutions to solve the territorial digital divide and allow everyone to have access to the internet in Congo.  

During the audience with Minister Leon Juste Ibombo, the UNESCO resident representative also announced several other digital projects to be carried out in partnership with Congo. They include a program aimed at introducing students to coding and artificial intelligence and the project to create the first digital educational TV in Congo. 

The projects are part of the National Strategy for the Development of the Digital Economy called Congo Digital 2025. It aims to ensure that everyone can reap the benefit of digital progress in the country. “To achieve that ambition, we must ensure the national territory is fully covered,” said Leon Juste Ibombo in 2019 at the launch of the Congo Digital Strategy.

Samira Njoya

Posted On jeudi, 27 octobre 2022 14:14 Written by

Many African countries have embraced remote education to address the challenges related to education in their education systems. However, the unavailability of infrastructure and advanced services that would enable easy access to remote learning remain major issues.

On Tuesday, October 25, Benin officially launched the Africa digital Campus project. The consortium agreement for the implementation of this project was signed by the Institute of Research for Development (IRD), the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Virtual University of Burkina Faso and the Agency for Information Systems and Digital (ASIN).

The project, funded by AFD and carried out by IRD and the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN) in partnership with the AUF, aims to promote the continuity and quality of higher education in West Africa by improving local universities’ network infrastructure and e-learning offering.  

"In its pilot phase, the Africa Digital Campus project will allow the deployment of distance learning by strengthening the e-learning offer of two universities in West Africa: the Virtual University of Burkina Faso (UVBF) and the National Institute of Industrial Technology of Lokossa (INSTI), Benin,” the Beninese government explains.  

The two-year project will strengthen the online training offer, the development of digital infrastructure, and access to connectivity within the two targeted higher education institutions in a post-Covid-19 context.

It is in line with the Beninese government’s plan to develop digital technologies to improve higher education. It will impact a thousand students in the country. The project complements government initiatives such as the Beninese Education and Research Network (RBER). In its pilot phase, the RBER allowed the interconnection of ten universities with services such as connectivity, IP telephony, and videoconferencing; and the e-Learning project, in its pilot phase.

Samira Njoya

Posted On jeudi, 27 octobre 2022 12:57 Written by
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