Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has hailed the ICT University of Cameroon for playing a key role in the initiation of Information Technology, IT revolution in the African Continent.
Olusegun Obasanjo made the remark in his keynote address at the opening of the 15th edition of the ICT for Africa conference that opened in Yaoundé on July 16. It is organised by the ICT University of Cameroon.
President Emeritus Obasanjo underscored that the ICT University has been at the front line in the digital transformation of Africa as it seeks to bridge the gap between IT and the rest of the globe.
15th edition of the ICT for Africa conference
He thanked Prof Victor Mbarika the visionary of the project whom he affectionately calls his younger brother “for inviting me to this conference. He did not sit down and did nothing to bridge the digital gap between Africa and the globe”.
Obasanjo also said Prof Mbarika “was concerned about the digital divide and particularly the backward state of Africa in ICT and decided not to sit down and do nothing looking for who to blame”.
He indicated that, Prof Mbarika, “believed that like all of us he could make a contribution in finding solutions”.
The respected leader added that, “the founding of the ICT University based on US curriculum and the establishment of an annual conference on ICT for Africa are the two ways that Victor believes he will make contributions to close the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world particularly the industrialised world”
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Prof Victor Mbarika the visionary of the project
In his keynote address. President Obasanjo said the ICT for Africa Conference is a major catalyst to steer up the revolution of ICT in the African continent and put it at a global standard for the development of the continent.
He said,” ICT for Africa conference is placed on a very high pedestal and that is why since its inception in the USA 15 years ago, it is to bring together the intellectual side of the digital world that is the university, the research and innovation institution with industrial and policy maker side to work in close collaboration to evolve policies”.
He also said experts are through the conference discussing, “strategies and businesses, products and programs that will bridge the digital gap that exists between Africa and the rest of the world”.
The Nigerian Experience
Citing a concrete example of how digitalisation helped transform Nigeria during his reign as president, Obasanjo pointed out that digitisation played a key in the development of the mobile telephone sector that is today booming thanks to the revolution from Analogue to digital.
“From Nigeria’s independence till the last decade of the 20th century, Nigeria made efforts to get telephone lines to half a million in number,” the guest speaker said, adding that: “Everything was done without achieving much success in Analogue. But when intellectuals through higher level, higher educational institutions, research, technology and innovation went in the way of digitalisation, they arrived at working with the youths”.
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Government policies and programmes, he further disclosed, “changed and Nigeria within five years of adopting digitalisation, we had almost 50 million mobile telephone suppliers. This Digitalisation has enabled us to grow and move from the speed of the sun to the speed of light”.
President Obasanjo concluded his keynote address by calling on stakeholders to step up their game in the digitalisation drive and do everything to support the process for the development of Africa.
He said: “Strategic initiatives have become business imperative in all areas of business, including agriculture, industries, and other economic activities within the society”.
Obasanjo shares the belief that, “the intellectual side and the industry side are already working together. I would like to see more of the policy makers side to form the third leg of the tripod to ensure firm and solid standing for digital transformation generally, but more so for Africa, where digital density in all walks of life is still the most important.”
President Obasanjo is a key actor in the development of the digital world in Africa. He remains a key supporter of the growth of the ICT for Africa conference. His Contributions over the years have made the conference what it is today.
