In December, President Biden announced the launch of a new Digital Transformation with Africa Initiative (DTA) that intends to invest over $350 million and facilitate over $450 million in financing for Africa. Join the Africa Center to hear from major investors and to get an understanding of the critical importance of data in further developing African nations.
The global digital economy is booming. Currently, however, Africa remains the most expensive region in the world when it comes to data. It is imperative that the continent be able to access data affordably if it is to benefit from a future in which the digital economy becomes increasingly interconnected and profitable.
In December, US President Joe Biden announced the launch of a new Digital Transformation with Africa Initiative (DTA) that intends to invest over $350 million and facilitate over $450 million in financing for Africa. The initiative reflects the growing global recognition of the digital transformation underway in African markets and the need to accelerate investment in hard and soft digital infrastructure. As the administration builds out the DTA, it is critical to get the views of experts, investors, and businesses in the space.
Africa Center Senior Fellow Aubrey Hruby will also outline key findings from a forthcoming report that analyzes the current state of the digital transformation in Africa, elucidates how affordable and accessible data is imperative for further development, and provides concrete recommendations to the key actors and facilitators of the transition outlined in the DTA.
Join us online at 10:00 a.m. ET | 3:00 p.m. GMT on Friday, March 3, 2023 to explore the DTA, hear from major investors, and to get an understanding of the critical importance of data in further developing African nations.
FEATURING
Keynote speaker
Dilawar Syed
Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Panelists
Hardy Pemhiwa
President & CEO
Cassava Technologies
Nitin Gajria
Managing Director, Sub-Saharan Africa
Google
Roslyn Docktor
Vice President, Technology and Science Policy & Vice President, Middle East and Africa
IBM
Moderator
Aubrey Hruby
Senior Fellow
Africa Center, Atlantic Council
THE POWER OF AFRICAN CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
In partnership with the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) and in the framework of its larger African creative industries program, the Africa Center is delighted to present a new research series on “The Power of African Creative Industries”, starting with a forthcoming report, “Critical Connectivity: Reducing the Price of Data in African Markets” by Africa Center Senior Fellow Aubrey Hruby.
After the Africa Creative Industries Summit of Washington in October 2021 at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the Sports Business Forum of Dakar in March 2022, the launch of a Financial engineering task force for African creative industries and the Africa Center’s partnership with the US State Department at the African and Diaspora Young Leaders Forum during the US-Africa Leaders Summit of December 2022, the Africa Center continues to amplify its creative industries program through a research workstream documenting a promising economic sector.
Follow the conversation on Twitter with @ACAfricaCenter and @AtlanticCouncil using #AfricasTimeHasCome
The Africa Center works to promote dynamic geopolitical partnerships with African states and to redirect US and European policy priorities toward strengthening security and bolstering economic growth and prosperity on the continent.