Africa must not miss out on digital economy, time to act is now —UNECA Secretary, Pedro

Africa should seize the opportunity and take advantage of the global digital economy currently estimated at US$14.5 trillion to enhance its productivity, increase income and improve social wellbeing of its citizens.

About 60 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) now depends on the digital technologies.

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Acting Executive Secretary, Antonio Pedro, said it was time for Africa to act and accelerate digitally.

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Pedro indicated that the digital economy presented an opportunity for Africa to address the issues of inclusion- leaving no one behind.

In an interview in Niamey on Sunday, Pedro highlighted some of the initiatives that countries could use to benefit from the global digital economy such as expanding access to e-commerce platforms to the Small and Medium Enterprises.

He said e-commerce platforms offered the potential for African countries to connect more quickly, effectively and meaningfully to products, services and markets.

“Imagine if all the small and medium scale enterprises on the continent had access to this large market that e-commerce platforms represents…that’s one.

“In terms of financial inclusion and payment systems, we are discussing with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is to create a payment system that would enable all the 54 African countries to trade amongst themselves without necessarily using foreign currency,” he said.

Currently, Pedro noted that African countries have to use foriegn currency to trade among themselves, which he said needed to be addressed.

He said digital transformation was also about enabling children to have access to education remotely, stating that during the Covid -19 pandemic the digital divide become more pronounced because they are a number of people that are not connected.

Pedro said the digital transformation was critical for Africa to achieve sustained growth.

Speaking at the official opening of the fifth African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum, Pedro said initiatives such as the African Trade Exchange (ATEX) should be used to connect African entrepreneurs to the global marketplace more effectively and link them to sources of finance.

He said this would help to accelerate implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“We should not miss out on is the global digital economy, which is estimated at about US$14.5 trillion, with about 60 percent of the global GDP now depending on digital technologies,” Pedro said.

He said delivering sustainable industrialisation and economic diversification in Africa was built on the premise of investing in research and development.

Pedro observed that most Africa countries have less than 100 researcher per million inhabitants and 0.5 percent of the GDP allocated to research development.

This years forum is held under the theme “accelerating development and diffusion of emerging technologies for a green, inclusive and resilient Africa.”

“As expressed in our theme- we are looking to harness technology for a green inclusive and resilient Africa.

“There are already many examples of transformative uses of technologies for this purpose across our continent,” Pedro said.

He mentioned the various car-hailing services such as Ride in Ethiopia, Ulendo in Zambia , which have cut down waiting time, enhanced transparency, and reduced cost of travel across African cities.

Similarly, last year 11,200 bags of ground coffee were sold in a mere one second on the Alibaba E-Commerce platform, to name just a few examples.

“Here in Niger, we have Dr Fadji Maina, a computational hydrologist at NASA, who is using data to develop a water atlas that will enable a better understanding of water movements in parts of the world to help address the issues many countries face.

These are just some examples of real solutions that can accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

To build on this innovative spirit, Pedro said African countries need to strengthen the enabling environment through informed policies, increase investment in research and development process, and harness the support of the private sector more effectively.

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