Public Management (427)
Last August, in Algeria, Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmadjid Tebboune laid the foundations for enhanced cooperation between France and Algeria in digital entrepreneurship and innovation. The memorandum seems to be one of the results of that groundwork.
French Development Agency AFD and state accelerator Algeria Venture signed a memorandum of understanding, last Monday, on the sidelines of the visit of French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne (photo, left) to Algeria. The memorandum reflects the two parties’ will to cooperate for the implementation of the Algerian government's strategic plan to develop the local tech ecosystem and strengthen interactions between the French and Algerian ecosystems.
According to Sophie Aubert, FAD country manager in Algeria, the aim is to "develop cooperation activities aimed at supporting the initiatives of Algerian incubators and accelerators nationwide. “
“We want to network actors of the Algerian and French start-up economy through field initiatives. We also want to develop joint initiatives -including knowledge production, and training programs- to support the Algerian startup ecosystem and, and its interactions with the French ecosystem,” she added.
The memorandum comes after French President Emmanuel Macron’s friendly visit to Algeria last August 25-27. It is in line with the startup/youth section of the Algiers declaration for a renewed partnership that encompasses all the major bilateral cooperation areas the two countries want to develop.
“We want to work while integrating a France-Algeria-Africa approach. We notably want to mobilize Proparco [the French development finance institution, ed. note] via its subsidiary, Digital Africa. Algeria has a developing ecosystem so, the aim is to enhance cooperation between the AFD and Algeria Venture for a common approach that is rewarding and profitable to every party,” Sophie Aubert indicated.
Muriel Edjo
Guinea, like most African countries, is digitizing its public administration. With its digital civil registration system, the country intends to acquire reliable data that would facilitate sustainable planning and development.
On Wednesday, October 5, Guinea launched the pilot phase of its digital civil registration system in ten municipalities.
During a workshop, in Coyah, between October 6 and 7, communal authorities and representatives of the legal, health, and religious communities discussed the process.
"Currently, we are finalizing the first module of the platform. This module consists of the digitization of the existing records (birth, marriage, and death records), the creation of a civil registration index based on the existing records, and the development of a plan for the automatic registration and digitization of future vital civil events. We are gathered here to review the module before the official handover, in the coming days," said Djenabou Touré, coordinator of the project aimed at reforming and modernizing civil registration.
Guinea faces civil registration document conservation problems. Several documents were lost due to fire and vandalism. The country took several actions to address the problems. The actions include the development of a 2018-2022 National Strategy for the Reform and Modernization of the Civil Registry with support from the European Union (EU). Despite the actions, much remains to be done.
During the pilot phase, the country will create an application that will help digitize and secure various acts with QR codes and barcodes, among other tools. The documents will be indexed (using a month-to-month index) in a central repository. "There are also plans to migrate all the remedial birth certificates issued by courts but not yet transcribed by municipalities.[We] will also do the same in health centers,” indicated Michel Luypaert, team leader for DXC, the company developing the digital civil registration platform.
The digital civil registration project began in April 2021. It is funded by the European Union under the Emergency Trust Fund and implemented by the Belgian Development Agency (ENABEL). The project -scheduled for completion in March 2024- will be implemented in Conakry, Kindia, Mamou, and the Guinean consulates in Paris and Brussels during its pilot phase.
Samira Njoya
In 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic was raging, slowing economic and administrative activities, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced public sector digitization as a state priority. The aim was to boost the country’s resilience in crisis times.
Algeria will launch a new digital platform for public services in the coming weeks. The platform was announced by Prime Minister Aïmene Benabderrahmane (photo), on Monday, October 3, while speaking before the parliament.
According to the government official, the digital platform will expand the range of digital public services offered by the government in sectors such as public procurement, sports, and tourism. Effective access to those dematerialized services will require a unique national identification number -whose project is being implemented in all the Tunisian ministries, he added.
The platform is in line with the social and economic reforms initiated by the government, in 2020, to ensure the effective digital transformation of the government.
By accelerating the dematerialization of public services, Algeria wants to improve the efficiency of its public administration, which is key to post-pandemic socio-economic recovery. With that efficiency, it wants to ensure transparency in public management and dynamize the business environment.
Muriel Edjo
Modernization of public services is a key requirement for the digital transformation advocated by the United Nations over the past thirty years. In Africa, which is still far behind the rest of the world, much remains to be done in that segment.
Sixteen countries are now e-government champions, the UN DESA indicates in its report "E-Government Survey 2022 The Future of Digital Government". In 2020, there were 14 champions.
In the new report, Côte d'Ivoire and Namibia have joined the list while Rwanda replaced Zimbabwe, which lost its place on that list.
South Africa, which was third in 2020, is now the first e-government champion in Africa. As for Mauritius, it lost one place to become second while Seychelles was bumped from second place to third.
According to the United Nations, Africa’s e-government champions are countries whose telecom infrastructure development, human capital, and online services rankings are above the continental average of 0.4054 points (out of 1.0000) and close to the global average of 0.6102 points.
Six of those champions are from Southern Africa, four from North Africa, three from West Africa, two from East Africa, and one from Central Africa.
In Africa, besides the champions, the ranking of thirty-three other countries was up to the continental average. Only six countries scored below average. They are namely the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Eritrea, Niger, and Somalia.
Despite the progress made by African countries in e-government, over the past two decades, some countries have overlooked the factor “inclusion,” the UN says.
“The groups easiest to reach have generally benefited most from the notable progress in e-government, while many of the poorest and most vulnerable populations have been left behind,” the report reads urging governments to strive for inclusion.
Muriel Edjo
Senegal is gradually moving towards full-scale e-governance. To accelerate the process, it decided to partner with key partners in the local ICT sector.
National IT agency Senegal Numérique SA and the Senegalese Information Technology Association (SITSA ) signed, Thursday (September 29), a framework agreement to boost public-private partnership. The move aims to ensure seamless digital transition and further develop digital services in Senegal.
According to Cheikh Bakhoum (photo, right), General Manager of Senegal Numérique SA, this partnership is extremely important for the country, which needs support in its public service digitalization programs. “We are aware that our engineers will not be able to complete all those digital projects all by themselves. [Therefore, the agreement aims] to build a public-private partnership whereby local private actors will boost Senegal Numerique SA’s service offerings,” he said.
The partnership will primarily focus on the liberalization of state infrastructure, allowing private companies to exploit those infrastructures. For Antoine Ngom (photo, left), chairman of the SITSA, the partnership will also focus on boosting cooperation between Senegal Numerique SA and SITSA to successfully complete the major digital projects launched by the government. “This partnership was needed as it enables us to carry out the reforms needed for an enabling environment, and implement major digital projects in sectors like digital identity, health information systems …,” he explained.
In 2016, Senegal launched an ambitious digital transformation project for strategic sectors like education, health, etc. The projects are scheduled for completion by 2025. However, three years to completion, much remains to be done. For Mountaga Cissé, a digital specialist, one of the reasons the project is not evolving as planned is the instability of ministries in charge of its implementation. Within ten years, the name of the ministry in charge of the implementation of that project was changed several times and seven ministers were appointed, he indicates.
Samira Njoya
Mauritius kicked off its digital transformation plan nearly four years ago. To successfully implement its programs in that light, it committed to finding strategic partners that will provide technical and financial support.
Mauritius and India recently agreed to collaborate on several digital projects. The two countries, represented respectively by the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, and the National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI) signed a memorandum of cooperation to this effect on Friday, September 23.
Speaking on the merits of this partnership, Deepak Balgobin (photo), the Mauritian Minister of ICT, explained that it will allow the government to improve the dematerialization of several public services in various strategic areas such as health, education, trade, etc. Apart from the development of communication channels -for information exchange, the two parties will also collaborate “ on best practices in the use of IT in the Mauritian government,” said Minister Yogida Sawmynaden.
Mauritius made a strategic move by choosing India as its digital transformation partner. A few years ago, India signed tech cooperation partnerships with four African countries, including Mauritius. At the time, India committed to providing strong support for the development and scientific development of the four African partners.
The India-Mauritius cooperation has already yielded positive results. In 2003, India was heavily involved in the construction of the "Ebene Cybertower" also called Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tower -since 2019- in honor of the former Indian Prime Minister. The tower, located 15 kilometers south of Port Louis, was designed and built by Indian companies. India also opened a US$100 million credit line for the project.
Samira Njoya
In 2020, the tourism sector was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic worldwide. Amid the wave of accelerated transformation that ensued, countries, like Togo, are multiplying actions to revive the sector and make it a better instrument in their fight against poverty.
Togolese Minister of Tourism, Dr. Gbenyo Lamadokou (photo, center), inaugurated, Tuesday (September 27), the new national platform dedicated to the promotion of the tourism sector in Togo. The platform, called Togo Tourism, was inaugurated at the University of Lome, on the sidelines of the 42nd World Tourism Day.
According to Dr. Gbenyon Lamadokou, this new portal is of great importance, because it will revive the tourism sector, which was greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, September 26, the Ministry of Tourism published figures showing a 49.1% year-to-year decline in tourist arrivals in Togo in 2020. According to the figures in 2020, the country recorded 481,706 tourists against 946,376 in 2019.
The figures nevertheless show a gradual recovery. Indeed, from XOF19 billion in 2020, the revenues generated by the sector rose 34%, to XOF25 billion in 2021. For Dr. Gbenyon Lamadokou, the rise was due to a “gradual deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine, the adoption of several measures, and the easing of travel restrictions.”
The new platform aims to attract even more tourists to the country. It presents the country’s cultural and tourist potential and lists the 10 reasons why visitors should visit Togo. It is part of the national strategy to attract 500,000 tourists to Togo annually and raise the contribution of the tourism sector to 6.2% of GDP by 2025.
Samira Njoya
In the African public procurement sector, private companies’ works are most of the time delayed by the non-processing of invoices sent to public authorities. Côte d’Ivoire wants to address that situation and boost transparency in government expenditures with that platform.
Last Wednesday, Côte d'Ivoire inaugurated its digital platform dedicated to government suppliers. The platform called “e-fournisseur” (e-suppliers) was launched, in Abidjan, by Prime Minister Patrick Achi (photo, left) during a ceremony attended by government officials, executives, and professional organizations.
This “unprecedented” platform aims to reduce the time it takes to pay government service providers' invoices. It will also allow suppliers to monitor all stages of the process, from the contracting date to invoice payment, in real-time.
According to Prime Minister Patrick Achi, the platform helps solve several issues including deadline-missing problems. It will also reassure private contractors, “particularly SMEs for whom cashflow is key to meeting commitments” given that they will get to know that their invoices are being processed.
For quite some time, private contractors have demanded a reduction in the time it takes to process public procurement invoices. They also require an integrated system to monitor the status of their submissions. During a seminar, in April 2021, the government promised to create a grading system setting invoice maturation periods of 30, 60, and 90 days starting from the invoice submission date.
Specifically, invoices of less than XOF30 million (97% of the invoices) will be processed within 30 days. Invoices concerning amounts ranging between XOF30 and 100 million (2% of the invoices) will be processed within 60 days. Any invoice exceeding XOF100 million will be processed within 90 days. The new platform integrates that grading system.
According to Finance Minister Adama Coulibaly, the platform and the reduction of payment processing days would strengthen businesses’ cashflow and ability to finance the 2020-2021 national development plan, which is expected to be 75%-financed by the private sector. The platform will also boost private actors’ trust in the government, he added.
Samira Njoya
The African diaspora is an asset, which can be leveraged for growth. In addition to financial flows to their origin countries, they contribute to development by creating businesses and stimulating innovation, thanks to the experience they have acquired abroad and their knowledge of the local context.
The 2022 Ghana Diaspora Summit was held in Canada last September 11-17. In her keynote address, Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful presented the investment opportunities offered by the Ghanain tech sector to encourage Ghanaian tech entrepreneurs living in Canada to invest in the origin country.
“We are also taking advantage of our position as an English-speaking country to attract back-office business processes, and outsource contracts from the US, Canada, and Europe. We already have several Ghanaians taking up such jobs and doing marvelously from the comfort of their homes. [...] This is an area that has the potential to expand further with investments from the diaspora. It will help to boost the status of the youth into entrepreneurs and help to solve the youth unemployment problem in the country,” she said.
According to the government official, Canadian exports to Ghana have increased by 8.97% per year over the past 25 years, from US$23.8 million in 1995 to US$372 million currently. While Canadian imports from Ghana have been about US$100 million yearly.
To fill the gap, diaspora entrepreneurs should develop partnerships with local entrepreneurs by training the youth and giving them the expertise and skills they need to work with international clients thanks to digital technologies and platforms built in Ghana, she indicated.
She added that the Ghanaian government is implementing digital projects to empower the youth. Among the many projects, there is the “Girls in ICT” program, a 10-year-old program that equips young girls with digital skills. The Communications minister also spoke about the “Ghana Cares Obatampa” program, a project designed to stabilize, revitalize and create jobs and prosperity for Ghanaians over three years in the post-Covid era.
The Ghana Diaspora Investment Summit is an initiative of the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC). It aims to strategically engage the Ghanaian Diaspora and attract their long-term investments and partnerships to spur socio-economic development.
Samira Njoya
Google and the IFC estimate that the digital economy could generate $180 billion for the African economy by 2025. However, many countries could miss out on this opportunity because of their lagging digital transformation. These countries are trying to avoid such outcomes with bilateral cooperation.
Cabo Verde’s Secretary of State for Innovation, Pédro Fernándes Lopes (photo, left), and the Ivorian Minister of Digital Economy Amadou Coulibaly (photo, right) discussed bilateral digital cooperation last September 15, in Abidjan.
According to Amadou Coulibaly, Côte d’Ivoire has so much to learn from Cabo Verde, which is among the African countries with the highest e-government development index. As the eighth best African country in that index (per recent UN figures), Cabo Verde performs well in the online services, telecommunications infrastructure, and human capital segments.
Pédro Fernándes Lopes stressed that Côte d'Ivoire can bring a lot to Cabo Verde. "We are certainly a small country, but we have great goals. We think that Côte d’Ivoire is a strong partner, which can help us achieve those goals,” he said. The State secretary also invited the Ivorian Minister of Digital Economy to visit the Cabo Verde Technology Park, an AfDB-funded digital entrepreneurship and innovation support infrastructure that is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
In its 12th edition of the Côte d’Ivoire economic update, the World Bank forecasts that the digital sector could contribute more than $20 billion, or 10% of the GDP to Côte d’Ivoire’s economy. The sector has already created 3,000 direct jobs and contributed $5.5 billion (3% of GDP) to the country’s economy.
Samira Njoya
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According to the World Bank, digital identification is an essential tool in the acquisition and efficient management of data useful for the implementation of public policies. In many African countries, however, the implementation of that project is still hindered because there is no implementation strategy.
In the Republic of Guinea, Prime Minister Bernard Goumou recently asked public and private actors to submit proposals for a legal and technical framework overseeing the unique id project. During the September 15, 2022, ministerial council, he explained the importance of the project to the country’s digital transformation efforts and the need to guarantee a certain number of prerequisites for its success.
According to Bernard Goumou, many departments already have functional biometric systems. This is currently reflected in the establishment of civil status documents, passports, residence permits, and driving licenses, the register of the National Agency for Economic and Social Inclusion (ANIES), and the WURI (Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion in West Africa) base register. However, those systems are fragmented with no interconnection. In addition, some systems cover just parts of the residents.
The Prime Minister also justified the need for the legal and technical framework with the quality of the services, the decentralized nature of the systems and the hosting infrastructures as well as the need for personal data protection.
Given the urgency of the unique identifier project, which should help improve public governance and access to public services, the Prime Minister urged public and private actors to submit the proposals for validation within two weeks.
He also suggested the government commission in charge of the project should validate and transmit the framework, the budget, and the draft decree to the President of the Republic as soon as possible.
Muriel Edjo
For years now, Burkina Faso, like most African countries, has been taking action to accelerate its digital transformation. However, the country does not have the resources required for an efficient transformation. Hence the importance of UNDP support.
Last Thursday, September 8, Aminata Zerbo/Sabané, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Digital Transition granted an audience to Elsie Laurence Chounoune, the UNDP resident representative. During the audience, the two officials reviewed the digital transformation actions already carried out by Burkina Faso.
"UNDP is much involved in digitization efforts. We believe digitalization should be at the core of our actions. This is a first contact meeting to review the actions already undertaken, the priorities, and how the UNDP can support Burkina Faso in its efforts to digitize its economy. This is our core priority because, without the digital economy, development objectives can not be achieved,” said Elsie Laurence Chounoune explaining the aim of her visit.
As Burkina Faso’s partner since 1966, the UNDP supported several government programs including the recent project ProFeJeC to improve the soundness of businesses launched by women and young people. The project led to the creation of FasoHub, a website allowing users access to digital resources to develop entrepreneurial skills.
According to a United Nations ranking on the digitalization of public services in African countries, Burkina Faso ranked 32nd in 2020. To get back on track, the country set up a national strategy for the development of its digital economy.
The World Bank-funded strategy, called e-Burkina, aims to build an efficient public and private administration thanks notably to ICTs and promote entrepreneurship, with a focus on agriculture and rural sector activities. Several other digital projects are also underway throughout the country and the government can now count on the UNDP for support in its digital transformation efforts.
Samira Njoya
In Africa, the shortage of tech skills is jeopardizing the continent’s ability to make the most of the digital economy. It is therefore urgent to facilitate access to digital skills training to have a skilled workforce.
The Republic of Guinea plans to transform its national school of posts and telecommunication into a national digital academy. The plan was disclosed by the Minister of Vocational Training Alpha Bacar Barry (photo), during a show on local radio Espace Guinée last Wednesday, September 7.
According to the government official, the national school of ôsts and telecommunication is an old academy that dates back to the 1940s. Despite its existence, it is still difficult for the private sector to find skilled software developers in the country. Therefore, the national digital academy will teach in-demand skills.
“We don’t want it to be like the Higher Institute for Distance Education (ISFAD), a reference academy. We don’t have the resources for that but, we will draw inspiration from what it does,” he explained.
In its 2018 report, "The Future of Jobs," the World Economic Forum estimated that about 65 percent of children entering elementary school today will end up in a job that does not yet exist. With the digital transformation accelerating everywhere, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) concurs in its "Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa Spotlight on Ghana" report, noting that more than 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030.
By offering the youth a digital skills training academy, Guinea, which is also embarked on the digital transformation bandwagon, wants to create a skilled workforce that will enable it to capitalize on the booming digital economy.
Muriel Edjo
In its latest e-government development index, the United Nations ranks Morocco among the best in Africa. As they are aware that there is still room for progress, the country’s authorities are making more investments to improve their public services.
Morocco, through the Agency for Digital Development (ADD), recently launched its e-government interoperability platform. This platform aims to facilitate secure and transparent data and document exchange between public administrations, agencies, and institutions.
With the interoperable platform, the country wants to streamline its processes and make its services more suited to meet residents’ expectations. Thanks to the platform, public administrations, institutions, and agencies can exchange information even if they use different information systems.
"Interoperability between the various IT systems reduces processing cycles and makes previously issued documents available to every connected administration. It also reduces human errors and costs,” explained Minsait -which developed the interoperability platform- in a release dated Monday, September 5.
The platform is one of the Moroccan government’s investments for its digital transformation ambition. In its digital strategy, the country wants to increase the percentage of citizens and businesses satisfied by public services to 85% by 2025. To do so, it plans to transform how they interact with the government by digitizing end-to-end citizen/business priority services.
Currently, the Single Social Register (RSU), the MASSAR school management system, and some social programs are operational on the Interoperability Platform, which is an open "Internet of Things" (IoT) system with Big Data capabilities.
It enables simple integration and the exchange of information from different systems, applications, and devices. It also facilitates encryption to protect data confidentiality and integrity.
Muriel Edjo