Smart Africa, Estonian organization partner to develop Africa’s ICT sector

The signing ceremony took place in Kigali yesterday and was witnessed by the Executive Director of Smart Africa , Dr. Hamadoun Toure and the Consul for Estonia in Kenya, Kadri Humal Ayal.

As the development of information and telecommunications is a major factor in the promotion of the socio-economic development of Africa in the 21st century, the Smart Africa is in the forefront of driving the agenda as its mandate is to transform Africa into the power of ICT.

The signed MoU will support Smart Africa in developing the policy documents on e-governance and digital transformation for member states, raising awareness on cyber security, protection of critical infrastructure, digital identity, basic registries and databases.

Also both parties will work together for the establishment of e-governance training programmes and regional competence hubs for the Smart Africa member states. Also the MoU will help to promote the cooperation on ICtT companies for implementing e-services.

Smart Africa’s Hamadoun Toure said that the MoU entered in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration as the alliance seeks to play a pivotal role in the transformation of Africa into a single digital market.

“This MoU with Estonia comes at a time when the African continent is energized around the concept of digitalizing Africa. We are proud to partner with a country that most people took as the best practice in e-governance infrastructure and digital services. Smart Africa looks forward to great achievements with Estonia in the digital space as we transform Africa into a single digital market,” he said.

Estonia’s Kadri Humal-Ayal said that her country decided to come in Africa due to Rwanda’s commitment in promoting ICT.

“Estonia’s president visit to Rwanda opened doors for cooperation. Now, we start expertise sharing. We hope that many projects will be performed between both sides,” she said.

Smart Africa Alliance is a public-private platform dedicated to shaping and driving Africa’s Digital Transformation. It was launched in 2013 by seven African Heads of States and now has grown to 22 member countries and different private sector and academia.