Egypt has participated in Smart Africa initiative board meeting, held in the framework of Transform Africa Summit (TAS) 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda. The initiative aims at using ICT tools to drive economic and social development in Africa, and face sustainable development challenges in African countries.
The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat participated in the board meeting on behalf of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The board consists of presidents and representatives of the heads of member states of the initiative.
During the meeting, chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Smart Africa strategic plan over three years was presented, as well as the major projects carried out in this regard.
Moreover, Talaat met with Kagame, on the sidelines of the meeting, and conveyed President Sisi’s greetings to him. They discussed the outcomes of the discussions between Talaat and Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation Paula Ingabire, on enhancing cooperation between the two countries in ICTs and exchanging experiences in topics of common interest, including promoting digital economy and establishing technology parks.
In addition, the two sides discussed Egypt’s experience in establishing technology parks and the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital. This is in addition to the African App Launchpad (AAL) initiative that Egypt launched to train and qualify 10,000 African young people in digital games and applications, using the latest technologies, and promote establishing 100 Egyptian and African startups in this field.
Talaat, also, met with the Minister of Digital Economy and Post at Côte d'Ivoire Claude Isaac Dé. They discussed implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries in ICTs, especially digital transformation, cybersecurity, establishing technology parks, developing and building technological capacities.
Furthermore, Talaat met with representatives of Babylon, specializing in Artificial Intelligence(AI), where they discussed the digital system that the company is carrying out for communication, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
The ICT Minister, also, met with representatives of Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), and explored the e-services that RISA provides to citizens. The two sides discussed cooperation in digital transformation.
Moreover, Talaat attended the Summit opening session, and participated in other sessions.
Transform Africa Summit 2019 is held on May 14-17, under the theme “Boosting Africa’s Digital Economy”. It is attended by more than 4,000 participants, including heads of state and government, UN Broadband Commissioners, ministers, public and private sector officials, representatives of international organizations, industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, young innovators, civil society, and academia.
