With the role technology played in helping businesses and organisations survive through the thick period of Covid-19 pandemic, and also seeing smooth transition post-pandemic, Expert is positive that African Continent will be a major beneficiary. Technology is getting us through the pandemic, and technology can also drive our continent’s recovery in the post-pandemic era, says Chen Lei, president of Huawei Southern Africa.
“For most of us, 2020 has been a year of almost dramatic, almost traumatic change. As individuals, our lives have been transformed; as businesses, our operating models have been revolutionized; and as a society, we have been shaken to the core, Lei said.
He said that fortunately, many of the technologies that have helped us through the worst of the pandemic and the lockdown hold the key to success and prosperity in the post-lockdown era.
According to him, the new ways of interaction that emerged this year – characterised by remote work, distance education, remote healthcare, online shopping and mobile money will define how society works in future.
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“Across the economy, the pace of change is already enormous. Last week, when we launched a 5G lab in Wits University, Adam Habib, a Professor and Wits vice-chancellor told us how Wits had moved completely online within three weeks during the pandemic– a process that was previously planned to take three years.”
“The move online has happened across society – not only in education but in workplaces, in retail as well as in entertainment – and this move will be permanent. This explains why data traffic soared by more than 40 percent while digital services boomed across Sub-saharan Africa.”
African governments have responded quickly to the demand, releasing temporary spectrums and making policy recommendations, as the President’s 4IR commission has done in South Africa, Lei said.
“Some of these policy moves – recently announced by the minister of communications, telecommunications and postal services Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams – have included a commitment to invest in human capital, establishing an artificial intelligence institute, setting up a platform for advanced manufacturing and supporting data security to enable innovation.”
“Policy moves such as these are to be encouraged, as they open the door for ICT companies to make an ever greater contribution to social-economic development.”
He advised that Government can further enable ICT-led development through policies to ensure rapid deployment of infrastructure, lower the cost of spectrum, and provide tax relief to make smartphones more affordable.
He further noted that another strategy for building a better Africa through ICT is to invest in digital skills. According to GSMA, only 28 percent of Africa’s 1.3 billion citizens subscribe to the mobile internet, compared to the global average of 48 percent.
