AUDA-NEPAD Knowledge Series: The Critical Role of Digital Transformation in Africa in the Post Covid-19 Era: How to Accelerate Application of Practical Digital Solutions at Scale with Impact On Jobs and Livelihoods

On the Margins of the 75th United Nations General Assembly 2020

Thursday, 8 October 2020

13:00 - 14:45 (GMT / Dakar, Senegal) ~ 15:00 - 16:45 (GMT+2 / Pretoria, South Africa)  ~  09:00 - 10:45 (GMT-4 / New York, USA)  

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The COVID-19 pandemic has brought and continues to bring about unprecedented disruptions to the global economy and threatens to undo socio-economic gains achieved by the African continent over the past two decades.

While emergency measures to curb the spread of the disease were required, they also triggered unintended impacts on trade, including on global and regional supply chains for essential goods such as medical supplies and food products. Restrictive border measures have aggravated intra-African trade and created multiple ripple effects to already strained food and agriculture systems.

In the global race for solutions, many countries are pushing the frontiers of scientific research and technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) for prevention, control and management of COVID-19. From generating low-cost COVID-19 testing kits and 3D-printed ventilators to mobile tech banking to support small- and medium scale entrepreneurs, a whole new wave of African scientists, businesses and governments are leveraging innovation and technology to solve problems around access to healthcare, food, education and finance. In this way, the continent could capitalize on the opportunities presented by the 4th Industrial Revolution and usher in a decade for renewal after the Covid-19 pandemic.

African Member States have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to their high economic dependence on hospitality services, commodities trading, etc., which have virtually collapsed as a result of border closures and restrictions. The COVID-19 pandemic has also created the perfect storm of overlapping, inter-alia, health, climate, food security, trade, and education.

African countries are devising scenario planning with individual and collective actions, and, where necessary, with the international development community to reach a rapid and sustainable exit from the pandemic. To mitigate the collateral damages inflicted to the economic and to some extent to the social fabric of the continent, a selection of priorities that have enough commonalities across African member states have been identified. They are clustered into three categories: i) Intra-African Trade & Food Systems; ii) Health System; and iii} Education. Digital transformation will be useful transmission belt to linking the three priority-clusters. COVID-19 has indeed laid bare how prepared African member states should be for the digital post-pandemic era.

4IR presents vast opportunities for African countries with digital transformation programmes underway. However, although new online tools have become available in the context of the pandemic, most government-to-individual transactions are still carried out in person. Furthermore, the pandemic has increased the digital divide for low income households, persons in remote and rural areas, and marginalized groups, such as persons with disabilities.

As part of its contribution to addressing the challenges and opportunities in the post-COVID-19, the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD is convening a multi-stakeholder knowledge series to provide valuable insights and share scalable solutions on how Africa could capitalize on Digital Transformation to accelerate its recovery from COVID-19, leveraging the 4th Industrial Revolution.

This knowledge series is organized by AUDA-NEPAD in collaboration with the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), VODACOM Africa, the Universities of Stellenbosch and Cheikh Anta Diop, and the United Nations. It will be held on the margins of the 75th United Nations General Assembly.