BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin addressed the GSMA Africa Policy Leaders Forum, and spoke on the vital role of policy and regulation in building national and regional resilience in the face of large-scale emergencies.
Other leaders that participated in the meeting included, John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA; H.E. Paula Ingabire, Minister of Information and Communications Technology and Innovation Rwanda; Stephen Chege, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Safaricom; Akinwale Goodluck, Head of Sub Saharan Africa, GSMA; Mamarame Matela, Director General Lesotho Communications Authority; and Robert Middlehurst, Group Vice President, Regulatory Affairs - International Policy, Etisalat.
The forum explored how industry and policies are adapting to the new normal, following the global pandemic, and how broadband connectivity and data privacy are key protagonists for a thriving digital Africa.
Ms Bogdan-Martin urged that in today's world, broadband networks need to be considered basic infrastructure, as vital to nations and their populations as networks such as water, roads and power. She added that broadband could turbo-charge progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, as new technologies could “change the game and make the global south the digital frontier where the truly transformational power and potential of connectivity will finally be realized.''
However, we have a long way to go to bridge the gap and leverage the potential of connectivity. Ms Bogdan-Martin explained that while internet use is growing strongly, right now less than one-third of the population of Africa is online. Fewer than 1 in 5 African households have any kind of internet access, compared with almost 60% on average, worldwide.
Although “connecting a continent as vast and diverse as Africa was never going to be easy", Ms Bogdan-Martin stated categorically that ''the challenges we face are by no means insurmountable." There are a number of promising factors: African markets for digital good and services are largely untapped; Africa has a youthful demographic; new technologies can help overcome long-standing barriers; and there have been excellent examples of African governments' commitment to digital as the engine of national development.
As ITU will host the first World Telecommunication Development Conference ever to be held on the African continent in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2021, Ms Bogdan-Martin called for the international community to seize this unique opportunity to harness an unprecedented tide of political will, and ''put digital at the very heart of Africa's Renaissance.''
