To speed up the expansion of digital public infrastructure in Africa, Ing. Patricia Obo-Nai, the CEO of Telecel Ghana, has issued a strong plea for greater multilateral partnerships and collaboration amongst the continent’s governments, businesses, and investors.
She made the call during the Mobile Technology for Development (MT4D) session at the just-ended 3i Africa Summit in Accra, where she spoke on the topic; “Digital Infrastructure and Innovation: Accelerating Africa’s Development.”
GSMA’s 2023 report on mobile internet connectivity in Africa indicate that 15% of Sub-Saharan Africans lack mobile internet access, while 59% have coverage but are not well connected; 40% have connectivity but have no real use of the it while only 25% are actually connected and are using the internet.
Patricia Obi-Nai thinks that it will take stakeholder cooperation to do a proper digital mapping of Africa to address the yawning connectivity, access and usage gaps
She stated that “As a service provider, Telecel believes in investing in network infrastructure and will continue to do so. [But] to bridge the gap, we also think that co-investment and infrastructure sharing schemes are important.”
“This will guarantee much-needed advancement towards accomplishing Sustainable Development Goal 9 to offer affordable and universal internet access throughout Africa,” she said.
As she revealed that a report from e-Conomy Africa indicates that Africa’s digital economy is one of the largest overlooked investment opportunities with the potential to add US$180 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2025, Patricia Obo-Nai urged stakeholders to invest in Africa’s innovative capacity and priorities in schools and industry.
She underlined that in order to achieve growth at scale, Africans need to be more thoughtful and invest in leveraging the inventive potential of skills and priorities in education and business.
“If we have the infrastructure and sort out all the innovative solutions, will we have an African population ready to take advantage of it and accelerate our development?” Questions for Ing. Obo-Nai.
According to Ing. Obo-Nai, increasing internet accessibility has the potential to provide millions of job possibilities and upskill young people for tech opportunities in the digital landscape, particularly because Africa’s working-age population is expected to reach 450 million by 2035.
“To provide African youth the skills they need to succeed in the digital economy, from coding to digital marketing to cybersecurity and data analytics, governments and businesses must invest in digital literacy courses. Teach our children about digital technology beginning in elementary school and increase their exposure to it, she said.
Ing. Obo-Nai also advised the parties involved to move past the discussions and put the agreed-upon solutions into action in order to guarantee that digital public infrastructure will accelerate Africa’s growth.
