Zambian Minister Of Technology Calls For Collaboration Among African Countries

At the Connected Africa Summit 2024, President William Ruto of Kenya, called for different IT leaders in Africa to come together to propel digital transformation in the continent.

Kenya is one of the leading nations in the continent in terms of digital transformation and technology adoption. However, the continent needs to move forward in unison to promote the growth of technology in Africa.

The Minister of Technology and Science in Zambia, Felix Mutati, believes that Africa is becoming the new world and there are a lot of opportunities coming up in the continent leaving it to the leaders and the general public to utilize these opportunities.

Speaking to CIO Africa, Mutati agreed with President Ruto saying that collaboration among African countries is crucial to the growth of technology in the continent. He gave emphasis on lowering barriers to collaboration and set out with the mission to grow tech in the continent.

“The president talked about a unified Africa. Sharing opportunities and lowering barriers such as Power. Lowering barriers is important to foster collaborations here in the continent. We need a connected Africa without leaving anyone behind,” the Zambian Minister said to CIO Africa.

Mutati went ahead to share his lessons from engagements with other tech leaders in the continent who attended the Connected Africa Summit 2024.

“I have seen the digital investment and transformation that Kenya has done and it is truly one of the key leaders in Africa. My call to the other tech leaders in the continent is that let’s be open minded, learn from each other and collaborate with each other,” he noted.

He further said that now is the time for collaboration because we have already established what we need to do in Africa in order to grow technology in the continent.

“We don’t have enough time to invest in experiments and in research, people have already moved on from that level. Let’s pick it up from where they are so that we minimize the cost of additional investment,” Mutati said.

During his visit to Kenya, Minister Mutati also paid a visit to Africa Data Centres in Nairobi as he looks to make further technology investments in Zambia. He notes that digital infrastructure is an important part of the digital transformation process in Africa.

“We need to create a competitive Africa hence we need digital infrastructure that delivers solutions. Data Centres are important because they are a part of the digital infrastructure that we are talking about,” he said.