The current level of cooperation is not enough
However, better awareness about what each actor is working on, and better coordination between different work programs, will be necessary to maximize results across initiatives.
In this, the private sector will need to be involved more closely. “The private sector has an important role to play, not only because public investments are constrained by the financial situation of many countries, but also because private companies can bring expertise and knowledge while supporting the promising African companies and ecosystems,” said Sergio Pimenta, Vice-President for Middle East and Africa of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
On top of that, “as development organizations, we should challenge ourselves regarding our country-specific or sector-specific approaches,” emphasized Pierre Guislain, Vice-President of the African Development Bank. As technologies converge, project financing within the boundaries of today’s sector classifications may miss the opportunities of the new, digital world.
Making sense of the large spectrum of activities in the digital development field
Many meeting participants realized that they shared similar priorities. Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary of the UK’s Department of International Development (DFID), spoke for many as he stressed the urgency to tackle “basic connectivity of underserved communities, digital skills and investment in EdTech solutions, support in digital ID deployment, partnerships on digital financial services, and the promotion of digital ecosystems and entrepreneurship.”
Hiroshi Kato, Senior Vice-President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency said that, while JICA wants to support every area of the Digital Moonshot initiative, “we would like to cooperate with other partners on entrepreneurship and digital skills because these are the two key drivers for the jobs of tomorrow.”
Although investment in human capital clearly appeared as one of the common themes with the largest cooperation opportunities, there is a need to “prioritize capacity-building activities towards women and young people," suggested Reina Buijs, Director-General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Not to forget key policy principles
The roundtable also made a contribution to the global conversation on key policy principles of the digital agenda, including data protection, open-data, inclusion and interoperability.
Particularly, “there is a critical need for a shared understanding of the importance of interoperability principles, because absence of cooperation on standards and policies could lead to regional fragmentation,” warned Marten Ross, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of Estonia, a country that has demonstrated great success promoting innovation and fully interoperable solutions.
“Joint-efforts are needed in order to make sure digital systems are being deployed in a safe and secure environment,” added Do-Kyu Lee, Counselor at the Korean Embassy to the United States, underlining the importance of strengthening relevant cybersecurity frameworks and capabilities.
Let’s do this
Reflecting on different ways of collaboration, sharing of information and best practices, technical support, and financing solutions, meeting participants committed to engage in a coordination effort to boost impact through better alignment of their work programs. It’s “coordination, coordination, and coordination, that will allow us to develop the digital sector and help improve productivity, create jobs, and foster entrepreneurship, all of which are essential for poverty reduction,” summarized Deborah Wetzel, the World Bank’s Regional Integration Director for the African continent.
“All the stars are aligned for Africa to take advantage of Revolution 4.0 and digitalization,” concluded AU Commissioner Abou-Zeid.
“We have made great progress through the EU-AU Digital Economy Task Force,” said Stefano Manservisi, Director General of the European Union’s Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO). First outcomes of this partnership are expected to be shared during the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali in May 2019, he said.
The current level of cooperation is not enough
However, better awareness about what each actor is working on, and better coordination between different work programs, will be necessary to maximize results across initiatives.
In this, the private sector will need to be involved more closely. “The private sector has an important role to play, not only because public investments are constrained by the financial situation of many countries, but also because private companies can bring expertise and knowledge while supporting the promising African companies and ecosystems,” said Sergio Pimenta, Vice-President for Middle East and Africa of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
On top of that, “as development organizations, we should challenge ourselves regarding our country-specific or sector-specific approaches,” emphasized Pierre Guislain, Vice-President of the African Development Bank. As technologies converge, project financing within the boundaries of today’s sector classifications may miss the opportunities of the new, digital world.
Making sense of the large spectrum of activities in the digital development field
Many meeting participants realized that they shared similar priorities. Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary of the UK’s Department of International Development (DFID), spoke for many as he stressed the urgency to tackle “basic connectivity of underserved communities, digital skills and investment in EdTech solutions, support in digital ID deployment, partnerships on digital financial services, and the promotion of digital ecosystems and entrepreneurship.”
Hiroshi Kato, Senior Vice-President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency said that, while JICA wants to support every area of the Digital Moonshot initiative, “we would like to cooperate with other partners on entrepreneurship and digital skills because these are the two key drivers for the jobs of tomorrow.”
Although investment in human capital clearly appeared as one of the common themes with the largest cooperation opportunities, there is a need to “prioritize capacity-building activities towards women and young people," suggested Reina Buijs, Director-General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Not to forget key policy principles
The roundtable also made a contribution to the global conversation on key policy principles of the digital agenda, including data protection, open-data, inclusion and interoperability.
Particularly, “there is a critical need for a shared understanding of the importance of interoperability principles, because absence of cooperation on standards and policies could lead to regional fragmentation,” warned Marten Ross, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of Estonia, a country that has demonstrated great success promoting innovation and fully interoperable solutions.
“Joint-efforts are needed in order to make sure digital systems are being deployed in a safe and secure environment,” added Do-Kyu Lee, Counselor at the Korean Embassy to the United States, underlining the importance of strengthening relevant cybersecurity frameworks and capabilities.
Let’s do this
Reflecting on different ways of collaboration, sharing of information and best practices, technical support, and financing solutions, meeting participants committed to engage in a coordination effort to boost impact through better alignment of their work programs. It’s “coordination, coordination, and coordination, that will allow us to develop the digital sector and help improve productivity, create jobs, and foster entrepreneurship, all of which are essential for poverty reduction,” summarized Deborah Wetzel, the World Bank’s Regional Integration Director for the African continent.
“All the stars are aligned for Africa to take advantage of Revolution 4.0 and digitalization,” concluded AU Commissioner Abou-Zeid.
“We have made great progress through the EU-AU Digital Economy Task Force,” said Stefano Manservisi, Director General of the European Union’s Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO). First outcomes of this partnership are expected to be shared during the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali in May 2019, he said.
The current level of cooperation is not enough
However, better awareness about what each actor is working on, and better coordination between different work programs, will be necessary to maximize results across initiatives.
In this, the private sector will need to be involved more closely. “The private sector has an important role to play, not only because public investments are constrained by the financial situation of many countries, but also because private companies can bring expertise and knowledge while supporting the promising African companies and ecosystems,” said Sergio Pimenta, Vice-President for Middle East and Africa of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
On top of that, “as development organizations, we should challenge ourselves regarding our country-specific or sector-specific approaches,” emphasized Pierre Guislain, Vice-President of the African Development Bank. As technologies converge, project financing within the boundaries of today’s sector classifications may miss the opportunities of the new, digital world.
Making sense of the large spectrum of activities in the digital development field
Many meeting participants realized that they shared similar priorities. Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary of the UK’s Department of International Development (DFID), spoke for many as he stressed the urgency to tackle “basic connectivity of underserved communities, digital skills and investment in EdTech solutions, support in digital ID deployment, partnerships on digital financial services, and the promotion of digital ecosystems and entrepreneurship.”
Hiroshi Kato, Senior Vice-President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency said that, while JICA wants to support every area of the Digital Moonshot initiative, “we would like to cooperate with other partners on entrepreneurship and digital skills because these are the two key drivers for the jobs of tomorrow.”
Although investment in human capital clearly appeared as one of the common themes with the largest cooperation opportunities, there is a need to “prioritize capacity-building activities towards women and young people," suggested Reina Buijs, Director-General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Not to forget key policy principles
The roundtable also made a contribution to the global conversation on key policy principles of the digital agenda, including data protection, open-data, inclusion and interoperability.
Particularly, “there is a critical need for a shared understanding of the importance of interoperability principles, because absence of cooperation on standards and policies could lead to regional fragmentation,” warned Marten Ross, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of Estonia, a country that has demonstrated great success promoting innovation and fully interoperable solutions.
“Joint-efforts are needed in order to make sure digital systems are being deployed in a safe and secure environment,” added Do-Kyu Lee, Counselor at the Korean Embassy to the United States, underlining the importance of strengthening relevant cybersecurity frameworks and capabilities.
Let’s do this
Reflecting on different ways of collaboration, sharing of information and best practices, technical support, and financing solutions, meeting participants committed to engage in a coordination effort to boost impact through better alignment of their work programs. It’s “coordination, coordination, and coordination, that will allow us to develop the digital sector and help improve productivity, create jobs, and foster entrepreneurship, all of which are essential for poverty reduction,” summarized Deborah Wetzel, the World Bank’s Regional Integration Director for the African continent.
“All the stars are aligned for Africa to take advantage of Revolution 4.0 and digitalization,” concluded AU Commissioner Abou-Zeid.
