President Akufo-Addo
President Akufo-Addo has taken his government’s digitalisation agenda to the continental level.
He is now advocating for all governments in Africa to embrace the concept to harness the transformative power of digital technology and financial technology (fintech) to accelerate the continent’s development.
This was when he spoke at the opening of the 2024 edition of 3I Africa Summit in Accra yesterday, insisting the continent must begin to break all the policy barriers that hinder the growth of innovation and technology, and form collaborative partnerships that transcend borders.
“Africa must harness the transformative power of fintech and digital innovation. We must embrace the technologies that are reshaping global economies and make them work for us,” he emphasised.
Dubbed “Innovation, Investment and Impact”, the three-day summit is being organised by the Bank of Ghana, Development Bank Ghana and Elevandi under the theme “Unleashing Africa’s Fintech and Digital Economic Potential.”
The summit is being attended by heads of state, ministers, central bank governors, members of the diplomatic community, private sector captains of industry and a cross section of the public.
President Akufo-Addo expressed the need for governments across the continent to invest heavily in the digital infrastructure that would form the backbone of the continent’s collective prosperity.
“We must create policies that foster innovation, encourage entrepreneurship, and attract investment from both within and beyond our borders. We must promote interoperability to reduce transaction cost and delays, tearing down the silos that have hindered our progress for far too long,” he said.
The Prime Minister of Grenada, Dickson Amiss Thomas Mitchell said the conference was important and should be the pillar to build the continent’s future and promote meaningful change.
He said the convergence of 3Is presented opportunity to reshape Africa’s economies and reduce the unbanked population.
According to Prime Minister Mitchell, the challenge for the unbanked population stemmed from the colonial system of banking which required electricity bills and other requirements before a person could open bank account.
“This conference should provide a platform to identify areas we can improve and form strong alliances and collaboration,” he stated.
Through collaboration, he said countries in Africa could tackle challenges such digital illiteracy and cyber security threats.
On his part, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison said the programme captured the vision of Africa in the digital world and the essence of “our collective endeavours in the next three days.”
In view of that, he said the forum presents a unique opportunity for the public and private stakeholders to explore, discuss and interrogate technological advances and fintech innovations.
Dr. Addison observed that there was now a sense of urgency for Africa to accelerate the digitalisation agenda through the 3is of innovation, investment, and impactful policies to boost economic growth and development.
“As Africans, we have an advantage in the digitalisation race based on the bulging and tech savvy youthful population, the high mobile phone penetration, the consistent expansion of mobile network access coupled with the rising homegrown fintech solutions. These factors have provided fertile grounds to accelerate the digitalisation agenda across the continent. While these are commendable, it is important to note that lack of requisite investments in African fintechs could slow the pace of innovation and scalability of solutions in achieving the desired impact of a digitised Africa.
“The general lack of investor visibility is a major challenge for most local fintechs. Without sufficient capital, brilliant ideas, and prototypes of fintech startups solutions with the potential to address the diverse financial service needs fail to progress to production,” the Governor stated.
Dr. Addison said the goal of the 3i Africa Summit was simple, yet audacious, and that was to share the African fintech narrative, discuss the opportunities and challenges on how to employ digital technology, as well as enhance collaboration among policymakers, investors, and innovators to advance the economic prosperity of the African continent and its partners.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent