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EU-AU Summit Side Event: The Open Internet for Inclusive and Resilient Human-Centered Digital Partnerships
Virtual Meeting  17 February 2022

European Union-African Union Summit

European Union-African Union-United Nations Side Event:

The Open Internet for Inclusive and Resilient Human-Centered Digital Partnerships

Doreen Bogdan-Martin

Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau

17 February 2022


Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to represent the UN family at this important summit to promote closer collaboration between the African and European continents.

This summit comes at a time when the importance of connectivity has never been so evident, nor the need to bridge the digital divide, so urgent.

And it also comes at a time when partnership, collaboration and cooperation are increasingly fundamental to our efforts to advance global development and get the SDG process back on track.

The African Union's Agenda 2063 framework, and the European Union's Global Gateway initiative, are two outstanding examples of a more inclusive vision which recognizes that working more closely together yields benefits that go well beyond what each of us might achieve alone.

As the UN Secretary-General said earlier this month at the 35th Assembly of the African Union, ''We need to bolster platforms for inclusivity — especially for young Africans, who need connectivity to access information, communication, education and jobs.''

Africa is the next big global growth market, and we're seeing recognition of that huge untapped potential reflected in unprecedented levels of interest in Africa's digital development.

Hardly a month goes by without a major company announcing new investments, from ultra-high-capacity cables to programmes that offer support for local African innovators and start-ups.

A big tech CEO proclaimed that: “Africa will define the future."

At the same time, the continent is beginning to produce plenty of digital success stories of its own – AIG, Interswitch, Ushahidi, and a whole host of digital SMEs, which are accounting for an increasing proportion of Africa's growth.

The local venture capital scene is also maturing, with the influx of capital from local and international investors reaching unprecedented heights.

But before we get too carried away, let's ground ourselves with some perspective on the task ahead.

While there are plenty of positive trends, the fact is, right now, Africa remains the world's 'most unconnected' continent.

Yes, internet use jumped by 23% between 2019 and 2021; but that still leaves 67% of Africans offline.

The continent's many remote and isolated communities are particularly disadvantaged.

Only 15% of rural dwellers use the internet, and almost 30% of the continent's rural population still lacks a mobile broadband signal.

Meanwhile, a glaring digital gender gap means that, on average only 1 in 4 African women is connected – and that figure drops to fewer than 1 in 5 in the continent's 33 Least Developed Countries.

With digital connectivity now so critical to our ability to deliver on our 17 SDGs, we urgently need to find ways to turn this around.

The solution lies in collaboration and a strong focus on building capacity and demand through regional harmonization and the nurturing of local markets.

In this, the European Commission is a shining example of what can be achieved at the regional level.

For our own part, ITU has been working hard to strengthen its cooperation with both the AU and the EU.

I was very pleased to serve as a member of the EU-AU Digital Economy Task Force, and many of the important outcomes of that group remain priority focus areas for us all.

We're engaged in many joint projects:

From the EU INTPA work in mapping the digital priorities of more than 20 African countries.

To the UN Brussels Team Taskforce for Digitalization (that we have the pleasure of co-leading) and we are working to strengthen cooperation between the UN and EU institutions

Our PRIDA EU-AU ITU joint policy initiative aims to transform Africa's regional market for digital goods and services.

Our GovStack initiative with Germany, Estonia and the Digital Impact Alliance is promoting scalable e-government solutions in developing countries, starting with the Horn of Africa. 

And our flagship Giga initiative with UNICEF to connect every school in the world to the internet already has activities on the ground in Kenya, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, with more countries set to follow.

Dear colleagues,

The UN Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and Our Common Agenda report recognize connectivity as a basic foundational element of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.

Universal, affordable, meaningful connectivity needs to become every nation's new development benchmark, and urgent priority.

Digital development will be centre stage at ITU's own World Telecommunication Development Conference, which will be held for the first time on the African continent in June.

At this next WTDC, we have the chance to unleash the vast, untapped power of digital partnership to deliver on our 2030 sustainable development pledges.

There is so much opportunity – but to lay the groundwork that will ensure every country can leverage that opportunity, we still have much to do.

We need more coordination with key development partners, especially in fundamental areas like roads and energy grids, to help us get digital infrastructure into hard-to-reach areas.

We need more synergies with government ministries to achieve universal access and drive a 'whole-of-society' vision of digital transformation that emphasizes sustainability.

And we need to harness the immense resources of the private sector, and bring them onboard as key partners in every country's digital development strategy.

In all of this, long-term successful alliances between committed partners, such as our collaboration with the African Union and European Commission, will be critical.

Yesterday, ahead of today's Summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the power of cooperation between the continents, and the potential of creating new links between the two as equals.

Africa and Europe both have much to gain from nurturing each other's growth and prosperity.

Digital development is not merely the foundation on which that prosperity will be built, it will serve as an engine that powers rapid and ongoing social and economic transformation.

ITU, and the many agencies that make up the broader UN family, look forward to working even more proactively and productively alongside all of you, to build the digital bridges that will, at long last, put opportunity in the hands of all.

Thank you.