Victor Ezeja…As Experts Advocate More investment In Digital Infrastructure For Africa’ Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery
DIGITAL and Macroeconomic experts have called for increased investments in building digital systems which they said have the potentials to boost economic growth of African countries as realities of the post-COVID-19 pandemic have induced more demand for digital-based business activities across the world.
This was part of issues discussed during Prime Business Africa’s 4th edition of Socio-Economic and Entrepreneurship Development Series (SEEDS) held virtually on Tuesday, 26 October 2021.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OKHi, Timbo Drayson, spoke on the topic: ‘How Digital and Smart Systems will Help Business and Economic Recovery in Africa’ said that while COVID-19 disrupted economies of countries, which for instance resulted in Sub-Saharan Africa contracting by -2 percent in 2020, and 20 percent of workers losing their jobs in Nigeria, as statistics showed, there are indications that the lockdown induced by the pandemic led to increasing access to digital services for Socio-economic activities in advancing mobile money/financial services, and e-commerce.
Drayson who led the development of Google Maps and Chromecast when he worked with Google Corporation, said the pandemic has introduced a new vista of activity which is increasing digitisation of work, offering new job opportunities to people with digital skills, especially youths.
Drayson revealed that some interesting statistical projections by Google and some others about acceleration of African digitalisation show that $180 billion would be generated for the continent by 2025 and $712 billion by 2050, through activities in the Internet or digital economy.
“A great example is mobile money that we talked about which has made 80 percent of people (in Kenya) have access to bank accounts, because of mobile money than being able to have to use traditional banking services which restricted a large population of people. We have seen the same thing happen in energy,” Drayson stated.
However, on the flip side, Drayson recounts the negatives of digitisation.
“Of course, digitisation also comes with some risks, and I suppose personally you see what happens on a global basis.
“Data privacy is something that of course with the growth of these digital services, becomes increasingly a bigger risk.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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