The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina has urged Africans to take the adoption of technology more seriously while also admonishing the government heads to as a matter of urgency deviate from “investing in the jobs of the past, but rather in the jobs of the future. A future that is just around the corner.”
Adesina while addressing a debate entitled: The New Tech Era: Job-killer or Job-creator? said, “Coding must be compulsory, at all levels. The currency of the future is going to be coding…We must democratize technology.”
The debate which took place in the Sofitel Hotel in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire was part of an event organized by Africa Report and Jeune Afrique commemorating the 2019 Mo Ibrahim Governance Week.
Sounding a note of warning, the AfDB President clearly stated that Africa will be at the periphery of development if it fails to embrace the dictates of the new economy such as coding.
Adesina said, “The people, who control data, will control Africa. Coding must be compulsory, at all levels. The currency of the future is going to be coding.
“Information technology must not be the exclusive privilege of the elite, we must democratize technology.”
Panelists at the event included Pascal Lamy, board Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and past Director-General of the World Trade Organization; Eric Kacou, an Ivorian businessman and co-founder of ESP Solutions; Chioma Agwuegbo, a Nigerian tech specialist and Zyad Liman, publishing director of Afrique Magazine.
Mo Ibrahim in his welcome remark urged the panelists to think about ways to address the “tsunami of young people entering the job market.”
Responding to Ibrahim’s call to action, Kacou on his part insisted on the need for “a change in mindset to move from BBC or Born Before Computers to rethinking education to teach people how to learn and help them solve problems.”
The Panelists unanimously agreed on the critical role the tech industry can play in Africa’s economic transformation through the continent’s digitization. They also recommended that there is an urgent need to upgrade the skills of the past, to do it fast, and move away from the social fear of technology.
Research has shown that if governments harness the full economic potential of just the internet, Africa could add $300 billion to its GDP by 2025. Also, 70% of all jobs will have an ICT component by 2020.
Opportunities to transform Africa through technology are endless. In agriculture, drones can monitor crops, Artificial Intelligence can speed varietal selection, and the Internet of the Things can control smart irrigation systems. Blockchains can also aid food traceability.
Adesina said, “We must grab the opportunities…We must democratize technology. Africa should prepare itself. Digital technologies, including Artificial intelligence, big data analytics, blockchains, 3D printing, are already upon us.”
The audience at the three-hour interactive session called for accelerated policy reforms and the creation of enabling an environment for innovative technology to thrive. The issue of data protection, identity protection, and fake news and how to turn the population into assets, topped discussions.
