Our Guest of Honour, David Mugonyi, Director General, Communications Authority of Kenya,
John Omo, Secretary General, ATU,
Sponsors and fellow partners,
Finalists of the Challenge,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is an honour to join you at this very special event – the third edition of the ATU Africa Innovation Challenge Award Ceremony, an epitome of innovation in Africa.
Innovation is key to driving economies and creating prosperity. It is an integral part of any forward-looking institution, entity or country and without it, survival in the wave of rapid change becomes rather hard. It is therefore inevitable to promote and nurture innovation.
I am encouraged to see ATU, resolute and consistent in recognizing outstanding young people that demonstrate capability or have the potential for technology-based innovations. I am aware that this year, it has even gone a notch higher to involve universities and technical research institutions who constitute a very integral part of the innovation ecosystem.
Innovation is at the heart of our work in the ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau, not only in our operations, but also in pursuit of our mandate to strengthen the innovation capacity of our membership.
It is gratifying for us to be part of this innovation challenge to provide expert advice to the selection process for the awards, and to help chart the digital path for not only for these youth, but also, the institutions and countries they represent.
This challenge is foundational to the digital innovation journey in Africa and for the acceleration of digital transformation.
It resonates with ITU's goal to accelerate inclusive digital development everywhere. Our membership reaffirmed the need to prioritize innovation and entrepreneurship.
We are committed to help support our membership on their innovation and entrepreneurship by strengthening capacity. Allow me to share some information on one of our initiatives designed to meet the innovation aspirations of our membership - this is the Innovation and entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, which I launched a year ago. Last September we selected 17 organizations from around the world to host our flagship Network of Acceleration Centers. You will be glad to note that 6 of them are from Africa - Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
We have recently unveiled the Board, comprising 18 eminent persons - with 8 from Africa - to provide strategic guidance to the Alliance and create the much-needed linkages at the national, regional and global level.
I say this because, this Alliance is your Alliance, and we call upon Members to take maximum advantage for policy experimentation, open technology innovation, research, leverage expertise to foster ecosystem development, among other benefits.
We all must do all we can, and complement our existing efforts, partner and collaborate to bridge the current digital innovation and entrepreneurship gap.
The engagement of governments, regulators, entrepreneurial support organizations, academia and the private sector, is critical in creating and supporting innovation ecosystems - and in particular youth driven innovation ecosystems.
With Africa as the youngest continent in the world, with 60% of the population aged below 25, the potential ahead is enormous.
ITU is committed to continued collaboration with ATU on the innovation challenges to propel the innovation ecosystem.
I am convinced that we are at an inflection point, and all we need is to use the platforms on hand to create a digital future. The youth is an enviable asset that we must leverage.
I take this opportunity to laud the participants and offer my congratulations to the finalists and winners of the challenge. In addition to the initiatives, ITU has a large network of innovation mentors and I invite the winners of this Challenge to tap into our networks to grow their potential.
Allow me to thank John Omo, ATU Secretary-General, for his leadership. This initiative is remarkable and indeed a great investment for Africa in the efforts to boost innovation-driven entrepreneurship and opportunities.
Thank you
