Denis Opudo
The Transform Africa Summit (TAS2018) is ongoing in Kigali Rwanda. The panelists include Houlin Zhao and Strive Masiyiwa. Other speakers include Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid and Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi among others. They concluded yesterday with pillars of the agenda. Some of them were political will, Harmonized policies, and regulatory framework. Many speakers wanted the continent stakeholders to learn from Estonia. The top digital society worldwide had their representative in the meeting as well.
Bert Kastel defined a single digital market as the elimination of border restriction. This will allow technological operations across countries in Africa. The blockchain technology enables entrepreneurs to transfer money among countries at zero cost. He added that the platform also stores transaction data for reference. The Secretary-General, International Telecommunications Union Houlin Zhao, recommended the use of ICT. He added that ICT is very pertinent in transforming the continent’s digital market. The founder and executive Chairman of Econet, Strive Masiyiwa, advocated for digitalization of insurance sector. The UNCTAD Secretary-General, Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, wanted the members to mobilize the youths. He added that the agenda can go far if the young generation spearheads the project.
According to the Business Development Director of ReachU, Rait Real, Africa should focus on two key elements. He pointed out the need of making digital market services free across the continent. He emphasized the need for reducing border restrictions in Africa. The other one was the revenue sharing agreement among countries in the continent. He also encouraged the members to digitalize various economic sectors in the continent.
