Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Tuesday urged participants at the Mobile World Congress 2022 which convened in Kigali to make good investments in digital literacy skills as a new strategy to attract many people in using available technologies.
“These investments should translate into solutions for the millions and billions of people who have to utilise these [technologies] to improve and transform their lives,” Kagame told a gathering of 2000 delegates from 99 countries.
Global mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors, content owners, and policymakers are in Kigali to identify gaps and discuss effective measures needed to drive digital transformation in Africa.
To address the usage gap –the number of people who can’t use mobile internet services while living in an area covered by broadband networks –Kagame said that neither the private nor the public sector has all that is required to cover the gap, hence, the need for partnerships.
According to the Mobile Economy Report, 40 per cent of the adult population in Sub-Saharan Africa is connected to mobile internet services; this is while 44 percent of people living in areas covered by broadband networks do not use internet services.
Commenting on the current situation, Rwandan minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, said there are ‘shocking’ statistics that show a large part of Africa is left behind which needs to be channelled into action.
“We need to walk together hand in hand within our national boundaries, our regional corporation initiatives and within our global compression from work as well,” she said.
Mobile World Congress 2022 normally takes place in Barcelona, Spain, showcasing cutting-edge technology demos that will redraw the boundaries of possibility.
The MWC also fuels innovation and grows ideas by introducing investors to visionary startups and guiding governments in the transition from physical to digital.
CU/as/APA