“Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation” was the theme of last week’s World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa that took place in Kigali, Rwanda. Too bad I wasn’t able to attend… such is life! But at least I could get a grasp of it through the internet.
Some of the meeting’s highlights reported by Oliver Cann at the WEF’s web site resonate with the views I share through this blog:*
- “Africans Need to Showcase Success to Address Perceptions of Risk”: most outsiders only see risk in African markets. They do not realize about the huge market opportunities. This is good and bad news to African companies. Good news because the market is there for them; bad news because in most cases they would benefit from collaborating with foreign companies. That’s why I agree that showcasing their success is important.
- “Smart Energy Mix Key to Africa’s Bright Future”: absolutely! Energy poverty (about which I talked last week) is an important obstacle to the continent’s development. Alternative sources of power give an opportunity to leapfrog national grids. Some are very capital expensive but others are more affordable even for households. If you have been following my blog, you know this is a theme that I bring up every now and then. Btw, let’s not forget that development is not an abstract idea: it touches people’s lives in a very tangible way.
- “Africa Embraces the Fourth Industrial Revolution”: actually, the 4th Industrial Revolution was at the core of the Davos WEF meeting last January. At the time, I commented that the new industrial revolution offers Africa opportunities to leapfrog. This weekend I read in the Financial Times that two companies are to start commercial drone delivery services in Rwanda. This is the first time in the world that drones are used for commercial delivery – speaking of leapfrogging!
I just picked just a few of the highlights reported: there were too many to comment on just one post! What I missed, though, was some discussion about the need to focus on socioeconomic (and not just economic) development. To the extent that we place human beings at the center of decision-making, socioeconomic development will be authentic progress for the betterment of all affected.
If you were involved or red about the WEF meeting at Kigali, would you to share some thoughts with the rest of us?
*In quotation marks, headlines of the news reported by Cann; commentaries are my own.
Related posts:
- “Africa Rising” – Under question?
- Africa powering ahead
- Together raw materials and technology can transform African business
Quite difficult to comment about the WEF which was held in Kigali, Rwanda whilst women massacres are being held on a daily basis at a few kilometers…No economic development will be possible in Africa as long as peace is absent from the process.
Marc-Henry ROUVROY
Marc-Henry, thank you for reminding us of this reality which is absolutely critical. This is one of the reasons why I believe economic development can’t be decoupled from social development — a discussion which I found missing in the reports about the WEF meetings, as I mention in this post.
Revolution is definitely required in Africa. The market in Africa is emerging with the passage of time. The evolving technology of drones has made it possible to initialise drone delivery service in Rwanda. The service is started with the collaboration of US startup Ziplin and Local government. They will be delivering blood bags to the needy hospitals located at remote locations.
But to manage the legal and verified usage of drones, the FAA used to present updated guidelines for commercial UAS. Last year too, in the initial months, drone guidelines by the FAA were updated.
http://www.topdronesforsale.org/drones-guidelines-by-federal-aviation-administration/
Thanks for this additional information, Hary. The use of new information technologies opens many new areas which are non-regulated. It takes time and learning, so it’s good to know that guidelines are being updated.