Digital Public Infrastructure, Policy Harmonisation, and Digital Cooperation – AI, Data Governance,and Innovation for Development

Summary

This discussion focused on digital public infrastructure, policy harmonization, and digital cooperation in West Africa. Panelists explored how to build shared frameworks for digital identity, payment systems, and connectivity while aligning with international initiatives. Key themes included the need for inclusive policymaking, capacity building, and contextualizing policies to local realities.

Participants emphasized the importance of involving diverse stakeholders in policy development, including marginalized groups and local communities. However, challenges in logistics and managing many perspectives were noted. The need for technical expertise and long-term capacity building was highlighted as crucial for strengthening digital infrastructure.

Harmonization of policies across the region was identified as a critical goal to enable seamless transactions and integration. Panelists stressed the importance of aligning national strategies with regional frameworks and global agendas. The role of telecom operators and private sector actors in advancing connectivity was also discussed.

The conversation touched on artificial intelligence, with a call for proactively shaping AI policies to reflect regional values and needs. The importance of contextualizing borrowed policies to fit local contexts was emphasized. Panelists also discussed the ongoing need for policy evolution and the challenge of keeping laws current in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

Student questions highlighted the need for better education about policy formulation and the importance of developing technology in local languages. Key takeaways included the need for capacity building, representation, responsibility, collaboration, and harmonization of policies across West Africa.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Developing inclusive digital public infrastructure in West Africa

– Harmonizing digital policies and standards across countries

– Building capacity and technical expertise in the region

– Ensuring representation of diverse stakeholders in policymaking

– Localizing and contextualizing technologies/policies for West African needs

The overall purpose of the discussion was to explore how West African nations can build shared digital infrastructure and align policies to support digital transformation, while addressing challenges around inclusion, capacity, and regional integration.

The tone of the discussion was largely constructive and solution-oriented. Panelists offered candid insights into policy challenges while proposing collaborative approaches. The tone became more interactive when audience questions were incorporated, bringing in perspectives from students and sparking further dialogue on education and localization of technology.

Speakers

– Chris Odu: Moderator

– Binty Mansaray: Digital security auditor and facilitator

– Adamma Isamade: Representative from the Nigerian Data Protection Commission

– Kingsley Owadara: Founder and AI expert

– Regine Bambara: Representative from TELESEL Ghana (online participant)

Additional speakers:

– Panelist: Legal expert

– Audience members:

– Engineer Chidi Gwebulam

– Shamsuddin Abdrezak: Leader at Glowing Minds Initiative

– Eugene Victor: Head boy of JSS Grand Palace State

– Ansem Michelle: Head girl of GSS student order

Digital Public Infrastructure and Policy Harmonisation in West Africa: A Comprehensive Discussion

This report summarises a panel discussion on digital public infrastructure, policy harmonisation, and digital cooperation in West Africa. The conversation explored strategies for building shared frameworks for digital identity, payment systems, and connectivity while aligning with international initiatives. Key themes included inclusive policymaking, capacity building, and contextualising policies to local realities.

Participants and Format:

The discussion was moderated by Chris Odu and featured panellists including Binty Mansaray (digital security auditor), Adamma Isamade (Nigerian Data Protection Commission), Kingsley Owadara (AI expert), and Regine Bambara (TELESEL Ghana). The panel notably achieved gender balance, as highlighted by the moderator. The session experienced some technical difficulties, reflecting real-world challenges of digital communication in the region.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Capacity Building and Stakeholder Involvement:

There was broad agreement on the critical need for capacity building and technical expertise development in West Africa. Binty Mansaray emphasised that alongside funding, the region should prioritise capacity training. Panellists suggested various approaches, including partnerships with educational institutions and industry-led training programs.

Adamma Isamade stressed the significance of inclusive policymaking, arguing that advocacy should transcend educated elites to encompass all segments of society. However, she also noted the logistical challenges of involving all stakeholders, describing it as a potential “nightmare” in managing diverse opinions while producing effective policies.

This perspective was partially challenged by an audience member who emphasised the importance of continuous stakeholder engagement and thorough research in policy formulation. This disagreement highlighted the tension between inclusive policymaking ideals and practical implementation challenges.

2. Policy Harmonisation and Regional Integration:

Kingsley Owadara advocated for the harmonisation of digital policies and standards across West African countries to enable seamless transactions and integration. He provided specific examples of challenges, such as the inability to use payment cards across different West African countries, highlighting the need for standardized financial systems.

The discussion emphasized the need to align national strategies with regional frameworks and global agendas. However, the specific steps for achieving this harmonisation remained an unresolved issue, suggesting a need for further dialogue and planning.

3. Contextualising Policies and Technologies:

A recurring theme was the importance of tailoring policies and technologies to local contexts. Adamma Isamade emphasized the need to adapt laws to reflect current realities in West Africa, rather than simply mirroring European legislation. This view was broadly supported, with panelists noting that the rapidly evolving digital landscape necessitates flexible and adaptable policies.

The localisation of technology emerged as a crucial topic, particularly following a question from student Ansem Michelle about implementing Pidgin English in tech projects. Kingsley Owadara acknowledged ongoing efforts in this area but highlighted challenges in building sufficient datasets for local languages.

4. AI Governance and Regional Representation:

While the discussion didn’t delve deeply into shaping AI narratives, panelists stressed the importance of adequate representation in AI policy development. They emphasized the need for West African nations to take an active role in shaping AI governance to ensure it aligns with local priorities and ethical considerations.

5. Education and Awareness:

Audience questions, particularly from students, highlighted the need for better education about policy formulation processes. The panellists agreed on the shared responsibility among various stakeholders for education and awareness-raising. Students inquired about internship opportunities and ways to get involved in policy-making, demonstrating a keen interest in the field.

6. Research in Policy Formulation:

An audience member emphasized the importance of thorough research in policy formulation. This point resonated with the panel, highlighting the need for evidence-based policymaking in the region.

Challenges and Unresolved Issues:

– Balancing broad stakeholder involvement with practical policymaking constraints

– Specific strategies for harmonising policies across West African countries

– Concrete plans for educating youth about policy formulation processes

– Methods to overcome data challenges in implementing local language technologies

– Strategies for including marginalized communities in policy-making processes

Conclusion:

The discussion provided valuable insights into the complexities of developing digital public infrastructure and harmonising policies in West Africa. It emphasized the need for a multifaceted approach that considers technical, social, and cultural factors in digital development. Key focus areas moving forward include:

1. Establishing effective multi-stakeholder coordination platforms

2. Aligning investment with regional priorities

3. Developing strategies to overcome the practical challenges of inclusive policymaking

4. Enhancing capacity building initiatives

5. Promoting research-driven policy formulation

The dialogue laid a foundation for further action towards creating a robust, inclusive, and regionally integrated digital infrastructure in West Africa. As highlighted by Chris Odu in his closing remarks, key concepts to remember include “harmonisation,” “capacity building,” and “contextualisation” in driving the region’s digital transformation agenda.

Chris Odu: Digital public infrastructure, policy harmonization, and digital cooperation. As West African nations pursue digital transformation, the development of robust, inclusive, and interpretable digital public infrastructure has become central to economic growth, governance, and regional integration. However, fragmented policies on even access to infrastructure and limited coordination across countries hinder the potential of DPI to develop widespread impact. So this session, we’re going to be discussing and trying to focus on how West Africa can actually build shared infrastructure, build shared frameworks for digital identity, immense system and connectivity while aligning with international initiatives like WSIS-20, the Global Compact as GDC, and SDGs 2030. What this session actually wants to achieve is we’ll actually try to look at the current state and gap of digital policies, digital public infrastructure across West Africa, and promote an alignment of national digital policies. I think most times we don’t like policies, and I’m also speaking from the Nigerian side, but how best can we harmonize these policies? How best can we implement them? And with me, I have a wonderful panelist. Some will be joining us online virtually, and some will be here in person. So permit me to actually introduce my panelists that will join me. I would start with my online panelists. which is Romerik Lokossou, he’s from CMS Africa. Romerik, are you online? Technical team, is Romerik online? Okay, he’s not. Okay, so I’ll just move on to my panelists who will be here with me in person. Binty Mansaray, she’s a digital security auditor and facilitator. Binty, you’re welcome. The next person is Adamma Isamade. He’s a unit of the Nigerian Data Protection Commission. I have Regine Bambara. And last but not the least, Mr. Kingsley Owadara, founder and AI, it is. And while I was calling out my panelists, I did notice that there are more ladies than men. We also have a gentleman in the midst, and we’ve been talking about gender equality. Thank you. Thank you. We’ve been actually having issues when it comes to public infrastructure across West Africa. And that’s why one of the reasons too, we actually gathered here as West Africans to see how we can solve these gaps in digital public infrastructure. So my first question would be, how can global partnerships and capacity building efforts contribute to strengthening and securing digital public infrastructure in West Africa? That question will be for you, Binty.

Binty Mansaray: Okay, for that, my answer would be the technical experts. We need technical experts that are coming to Africa to finance and also share their standard support, wherein we can help with our infrastructure joining, also collaborate with World Bank and other organizations to strengthen that. And we can also do capacity building, because that’s the key issue we find. We implement a project, but most of the time we do not do capacity building, not just for short-term capacity building, but long-term capacity building training, which can focus on institutional strengthening, local talent development, and also knowledge transfer that can support long-term self-reliance. Instead of us relying to the international partners that assist us, we have to create a capacity building or a space wherein we can teach our own people to know what they should do and to strengthen, even if we have issues concerning, we don’t go back again to ask our partners to come again to help us. We need to not just ask for funding, but also for capacity training.

Chris Odu: Thank you for that very, very elaborate explanation, Binti. It’s a good thing you did point out on capacity building, and most of the time when we hear capacity building, people just leave things and be like, okay, it’s the government that has to take all the work. , and the other people. I’m going to give you an example. You have situations where you have trained a trainer. People have done well when it comes to capacity building. It’s not something you say let’s leave it to the government. It’s a very important issue when it comes to digital public infrastructures. I would move on to my next panelist. My question for you is , what are the key policy and advocacy gaps that we need to have in order to have access to digital services, especially for marginalized communities across the region?

Adamma Isamade: Good afternoon, everyone. The question is very interesting, but I think it’s not a question that I can appropriately answer, the reason being that I’m in the government, so I won’t tell you the gaps that are there. I’m going to start with my first question. So, especially in Nigeria, I’m going to be using that as a basis. You realize that even when the last panelists were on stage, they alluded to the fact that you need a multistakeholder approach to everything. You see that our policies, maybe before 2020, 2021, you had a whole lot of multistakeholder policies, but now we have very few stakeholders that we’re in contact with. So, I’m going to start with my first question. So, I’m going to start with my first question. So, I’m going to start with my first question. So, I’m going to start with my first involved in policymaking. So of course, one of the first policy gaps that you would see is that it does not cover all the bases that it’s meant to cover. So one of the last speakers said something about disabled persons and how, in fact, AI is not necessarily working for those set of people. So you already see that while the policies were being formed, they did not take into cognizance the need for people from that aspect to be involved in the policymaking. So you need to be able to ensure that you have everyone. And it is as easy as when you look at a policy, maybe a policy on anything, let’s say telecommunications. Whatever comes to your mind with regards to users, whether it’s the ideation, the iteration, the creation, the deployment, the using, whatever comes to your mind, whatever set of people come to your mind, that means they need to be on that table. So you need to be very deliberate about it. You need to look at, you need to have people like behavioral analysts or policy analysts that are in that room that are even going to help you to curate your stakeholders. So these are the kind of policy gaps that we can see, where from the onset, the people that are meant to be in the room are not in the room. When you talk about the advocacy gaps, of course, as you said, we always think that is the government that has to be doing some sort of capacity building for people and all that. But when you look at what we have in place, you need to also ensure that the private sector, especially the civil society sector, are involved. Now, when you’re looking, the advocacy gaps always has people, you just look at the peripheral issue. So you don’t look at the nitty gritty of the issues that you’re trying to address. So you come out and say something like. We want AI to be a tool that is being used everywhere. And you look at the elitists. So you look at persons like me and you, and you’re like, oh, okay, I can use this tool, whatever tool it is. And in your head, you think you’re covered. You don’t understand or realize that there are people in local communities that may need some sort of tool that will help them to be included in whatever it is you’re doing. So your advocacy needs to transcend just a sector of people, educated people. It needs to transcend that. Remember, AI tools and even the digital public infrastructure, the aim, the core of having all those things in place is that everyone should be at par. But you realize that AI tools right now and whatever infrastructure we have in place actually exacerbates the issue. So you see that there’s now much more difference between those that are educated or those that are in the urban society than those that are in the rural communities, those that are in local communities. So you need to make sure that your advocacy reaches every set of people. And you need to make sure that your advocacy covers local contexts. So when you’re advocating for any kind of tool, any kind of AI or even use of public infrastructure, you need to ensure that it looks beyond just one set of persons. Like I’m going to be looking at those that are in the health sector. No, you need to look through every facet of the society to ensure that your advocacy reaches everyone and how it affects them. The way it affects a local community in FCT is different from the way it affects a local community in, say, Equity State. Or it’s even different from… jurisdictions. The way it affects us in Nigeria is going to be way different from the way it affects someone in Ghana because there are different parameters, there are different levels of, you know, listening to things, there are different levels of assimilation, there are different levels of interpreting what that AI tool is, so you need to conceptualize your advocacy.

Chris Odu: Thank you very much, Adamma. That was very, very elaborate and I’m also being reminded that we should also just try to keep it brief because of time, although I still want to like dissect that a bit. You talked about inclusivity, inclusive, making people come together and try to be part of the party, not keeping people out, so what are some of the issues that actually come up where you are not able to bring these people, people like those of the disabled groups, disabled communities, impaired people and all of that, what are usually the issues that come up why when making, because I know we do have policies, but most times it’s not inclusive, these people are actually not brought to the table, so what are some of the things you’ve you’ve actually seen that it’s hindering that process?

Adamma Isamade: So I keep saying this, I’m government, I like my job, so let somebody else answer that question.

Chris Odu: Okay, okay, I’ll, that’s the right questions, let them tell us what is not working and what is working, so that we know where we are going.

Adamma Isamade: Okay, so I’ll be very brief, the truth is, I hope your boss is not watching. Ah, my boss is always watching, but okay, so I’ll be very brief, so one of the things that’s, okay, for my own commission, we tried as much as possible to bring every They are the ones who are going to bring everybody in. Remember, government is, I can’t say government does not have money, but government is what it is. So, there are a lot of unseen logistical nightmares to bring everyone to that table. Remember this saying that many hands spoil the soup? It is very true. Because when we start looking at a policy, by the time you start dissecting everybody’s opinion, you would not write a line. I am saying this from experience because I was part of the formation of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, which basically safeguards the privacy rights of people. It is hard. However, it is not an excuse. If today we are starting with 10, the next policy we are going to be doing, we can start with 12. Always ensure that you have public buy-in. Let everybody send in their responses, their opinions, and then you filter. I think that is a better way it can work. Thank you.

Chris Odu: Thank you very much for that. You see that after we press high a bit, we are now hearing things that we did not know before. So, it is always good for us to press a bit. I am just being reminded that I promised earlier that we are not going to keep our online participants away from the party that is happening here in Abuja. So I am just being reminded that we have our online speakers, they are actually with us. Is Bambara there? Regine Bambara, TELESEL Ghana? Technical team, please. Is he online? Okay. Hi. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. she’s online. Okay. Sorry for that. So I want to just throw this to you. What role should telecom operators and other private sector actors play in advancing connectivity and regional digital integration?

Regine Bambara: Okay, so good morning, everyone. And thank you again. It’s a player like telecom shift from being service provider, right to development partner. And for me, this one mean collaborating with governments, NGOs, youth development community to ensure that the infrastructure is not only for the commercial value right, and but also for the regional, let’s say,

Chris Odu: I think we’re having technical issues. Internet. Oh, okay. So just being reminded that sometimes we actually still working in places or with things that can actually go wrong at times. So I’ll come back to the conversation in the room here. And I can see that Mr. Kingsley, you’ve actually been eager to speak. What collective actions are needed to align national infrastructure strategies with regional cooperation frameworks and global data development agenda like GDC and WSIS 20.

Kingsley Owadara: Okay, thank you very much for that. Good afternoon, everyone. And I believe that there are and I also try to speak in a way that you know, the people with the younger like I said younger youth among us would also be able to understand and I believe there’s a lot of harmonization that needs to be done to be able to get this and it’s like something that is collective. What I first see is to harmonize digital policies and standard across you know countries and I look at it from the perspective of Africa as a whole and also bringing it to West Africa and what really wins at all time is not building in silos, it’s being able to come together and build and that is where you know bodies like ECOWAS and the global digital compact comes in, bringing up initiatives that could really help people, that could really help you know policymakers, that could really help you know private sectors, that could really help you know talents to build initiatives that I would call that’s inclusive in nature. Another thing I look at is to establish some sort of multi-stakeholder coordination platform. So these platforms because there was a question you asked about you know including people in conversations you know while building frameworks, while building things but aside from the fact that there are a lot of bottlenecks, aside from the fact that it can be difficult to get everybody’s idea on the table, I think one thing that is also critical is knowing in which you know we are actually in a world where everybody’s an expert. So it’s difficult, it’s difficult if you are dealing with Nigeria alone, I know most of the issues that could be involved gathering you know experts in Nigeria and most people are even experts but they are not findable. So for us to be able to establish that kind of multi-stakeholder coordination platform, people must enable to I mean people that are experts in this subject matter must speak out and you must be visible enough so that when such opportunity comes you will be caught. I want to give an instance you know when the first one when Nigerian was working on the digital collective and you know to build this multi-stakeholder experts to work on the national AI strategy. One of the things that that was publicly available was that you know a research was made into you know database of researchers and they are to pick people that are persons of African descent to come together to build that. So you can be a good person you can be really skilled but if you are not out there there’s no way you can actually be included while building this kind of multi-stakeholder approach. And in order not to waste, not to add more, to extend this I would also talk about you know aligning investment and funding mechanisms. There are several initiatives that have been built. I mean as at last month or last two months there was still this global AI forum that was held somewhere at Kigali and part of the you know part of the declaration was to to release like a 60 million dollars you know funding to help in building you know the AI ecosystem in Africa. But the thing is aside from you know you know African banks you know private organizations releasing funds I think it’s also important that we must align these funds to what are our priorities. So it’s not just we are releasing funds to build AI but look at what exactly are on ground and how is this fund going to be appropriated at the same time what are some of ratio what appropriation I think with this would be able to you know have a good system.

Chris Odu: Yeah thank you very much for Mr. Kinsley and I like the fact that you talked about harmonization of policies because I think one thing we’re actually lacking or would I say we find it hard to do is actually harmonizing policies across the region. For instance, you can actually go to West African country or Ghana, and sometimes you try using your card to make payments, and it’s not just as little as making of payments. So there are still issues. Yeah, like my friend here, Keija, has been having issues using his card and all of that. So these kind of things are things that in the digital age and at this time we shouldn’t be facing. So how we’re able to actually harmonize policies to make seamless transactions or make things work seamlessly within the region and even the continent is actually very important. We’re actually running out of time, but I’ll go to you. I will say you are actually a legal person. So I think this question would actually be good for you because we do have two segments, but I’m just trying to match both of them. And this actually is an AI question because we’re actually in the age of AI. And I’m sure if I do a little survey here, I’m sure 80 or even 90% of everyone here has actually had an interaction with AI. So it’s important that we also bring this to the conversation and actually ask this question. So my question is, how can West African government and stakeholders proactively shape AI narratives and policies to reflect regional values, needs and digital sovereignty?

Panelist: Okay, thank you so much for your question. So at the top of everything and every legislation that we draft, right? There’s always a need to ensure that there’s adequate representation, which was what I wanted to contribute when Adama was speaking. We need to be able to tailor our laws to reflect our current realities. I’ll give a very good example. So we have the Nigeria Data Protection Act, Adama, sorry. So in the law, we have what’s called sensitive personnel data, right? And then the act actually… lists out examples of personal data that you would consider to be called sensitive personal data. And then you have things like ethical, race. I mean, in Nigeria, nobody, I’m speaking as a Nigerian, nobody cares about your race. We’re all blacks. At least most of us are, right? I would expect that a law like that will mirror our immediate needs, like tribe, for instance, you know, your village, those things that your accent, if at all, I know that it’s not easy to protect accents, but then I would have expected that such a law, you know, would reflect our current realities. But over time, while working in the legal and regulatory ecosystem, I’ve come to realize that there’s a tendency for us to always want to mirror our legislations after European laws and legislations. And most times, I mean, it works sometimes, but most times we really do not address our current needs. So one way that we could move forward is to ensure that, one, we have adequate representation. At the beginning of creating any form of legislation, you can carry out an impact assessment, who will be affected, and then how does it affect us? Like Adamma mentioned, whoever comes to your head or to your mind should actually be part of the decision making. And then also try to make sure that such laws mirror our current realities. So thank you.

Chris Odu: Okay, thank you. Thank you very much, I would say, for that. And I like what you’ve just mentioned, which is mirroring ourselves. And I find this very interesting, or sometimes I ask this question, and I’m like, why do we keep borrowing policies and never tailor it to our own context? For instance, I can actually give this analogy. I can actually like the fabric that Keja is actually putting on. If I actually need that same fabric, I wouldn’t take it to the tailor and just say, take this fabric and just sew for me or put it up for me. Definitely, he has to take my own measurement. and give me my own fitting. So it’s the same thing with policies. You can actually have borrowed policies, but it’s important that you actually look at your own context, look at your environment. We are actually different people. We’re all different, even twins that are actually identical, different characters. So it’s important that you always tailor down your policies to your people. What do they want? What do they want to achieve? How can we achieve this? And make sure that you tailor it that way. It would be unfair if I round off this session without giving the audience an opportunity to ask questions. So I’ll just take very few questions so that we can wrap up the session because I think time is already fast spent. So any question in the audience? I’ve already seen one. I’ve already seen one. I’ve seen another. I want to give opportunities to the men because we have a lot of women here already. Just two questions, please. My MC has been looking at me and the way she’s looking at me. Please, I want to go home happy today. So please, the microphone to the gentleman with the suits at the back and then him over here. Thank you. Just be brief, please. I’ll come to you.

Audience: Okay, thank you very much, the moderator and the panelists. This is an interesting area when you’re talking about policy because that’s what governs a lot of things. Please introduce yourselves. My name is Engineer Chidi Gwebulam. My question is on policy formulation. What is the role of research? Because when we talk about making policy that will affect the people, policy that will benefit the people, is not something you will sit down on your table and assume that this type of.

Chris Odu: Thank you very much for that. I love that you’re also brief. Please, the next gentleman over here.

Audience: Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Shamsuddin Abdrezak, and I lead the team at Glowing Minds Initiative. So we work around fact-checking and there’s misinformation and disinformation and media and information literacy. So one of the things that I’ve always talked about, especially within the sub-region, is the fact that there is no amount of participation or trying to possibly include people that is too small. When we talk about inclusivity, somebody’s thoughts, just one person’s thoughts can actually shape the idea of the document we are planning. So I think it’s something that we need to start looking at, especially within the sub-region here. And as regards the investment in participation and continuous stakeholders engagement before we put out policies. Because over time, taking a cue from what we have, the Cybercrime Act of 2015 here in Nigeria, between 2015 and 2025, it has gone to the National Assembly almost like three, four times. And one of the reasons why it has actually moved in that length is because… period to the development of that document there were not enough consultation especially with the people who are on the field to actually get to know the nuances what do you describe as a cyber crime what are the penalties that are suited for it and things like that and until we are able to engage more and more people especially the people who are on the field and trying to possibly do the work then definitely we have a long way to go so for my I’m just trying to react to the person from the NDEPC as regards our conversation at like trying to bring too much people into the room I think there is no amount of people you actually bring in as much as you actually get in the right people into the room you will always have the best in that aspect so that’s my submission

Adamma Isamade: thank you so much for your question so I think of the question on research and your question is basically the same trying to identify the people your mind trying to identify yes trying to identify the right persons in the room so I’m going to I’m going to piggyback on what’s it called on your example the cyber crime is at so I’m not really I don’t totally agree with you that it’s it went through you know it’s gone to national assembly three times just because at the initial period there was lack of you know a lot of conversations I don’t totally agree because if I tell you to do something today I give you an assignment today and you give an answer to that assignment trust me in the next eight hours when your brain has cooled down you’ve done other things and you go back you would have something to add so it’s it’s I know yes you need the right people in the room and of course research also helps you to identify the right people but even when you have the right people in the room you don’t have the right people in the room, things would always change. Remember, you’re in an evolving landscape. I’ll give you another example. The Nigerian data protection act, I was involved. I was involved as, I didn’t even know I was involved. Private person, I was not in government, I was not anything, but because of my, which leads into my experience in that. I was involved, I wrote. Now, I look at the act and I’m like, uh-uh, Ada, were you involved in this? The reason is not because as at the time we started it, that I was less brilliant or not. It’s just because things have changed, things have evolved. And that is why you would have what we have. That’s why we constantly have it. Remember, there are always public hearings. And I also alluded to the fact that, you know, you have people to public consultations, public hearings. You have people bring in their ideas, their opinions and all that. But then again, how many will you look at? And even if you look at them, everybody’s not that brilliant, really. Do you understand? So you can’t also be saying that, because if you look at the right people being in the room, it’s very good, but then again, the aspect of the perspective through which, or the lens through which they look at something, another person might look at it from a better lens, and you would definitely pick that. Does not mean, does not take away the fact that you’re brilliant and you were in the room. And, you know, but that’s how it would always work. So I agree, you need the right people in the room, but it will not change the fact that laws would always have to evolve. Rather, what I would think that we should do, and it’s across board, is have broad principles that work on anything, and then make them very agile and flexible. When you look beyond laws and, you know, regulations, to look at policies, guidelines, you know, standards, it’s easier to navigate those things. Thank you.

Chris Odu: That was very, very, very extensive, Adama. Thank you very much for that. But I would just like to correct one thing that you said. I think… you said not everyone is brilliant but I would differ on that everyone is actually brilliant but their capacities differ I think I would prefer that and I also agree with you when you say you know when you submit something much later when you come back and look at it I can actually remember when I was writing a paper and after I had submitted everything it’s actually been published when I went back to it and I was also like I think I should have corrected this place yes so every time there’s always a need to just improve upon what you have already and then I’ve actually been told whether there are no online questions so I’ll just wrap up and in 10 seconds please 10 seconds just give me just a keyword from this session so I would actually start with you Binty

Binty Mansaray: for my own aspects a keyword I believe is capacity building and also when creating our own technology we should focus on security

Adamma Isamade: the keyword would be contextualization always ensure that whether it’s the laws the innovations the ideas always contextualize it to your realities and yes that’s very true everyone is brilliant but we have different capabilities so apologies

Panelist: mine will be representation thank you

Kingsley Owadara: from my side what I would say is responsibility as much as we all emphasize you know having a safe space we all have the responsibility to make it work either you’re training yourself you are making each step to get it better so we all are responsible not just the government not just private sector we all as individuals staying in this room are responsible to having a good keyword keyword responsibility yes thank you

Chris Odu: So, I’m just being told again that our students would like to ask us a question, just one. It would be very unfair to just have come here and we don’t have a student ask a question. So, okay, you people have elected him. Is he the class rep? Because class reps, their questions will be very long. Two questions, but brief, briefly, okay? Just introduce yourself and just briefly.

Audience: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Eugene Victor. I’m the head boy of JSS Grand Palace State. So, my question is, what are the plans or steps the government are making to educate us about policy formulation? Because I didn’t know there was a policy formulation for all this until I just got here and I can speak for most of us that we don’t know. So, what are the plans for the steps the government are taking to educate us so that we know and we can put in our ideas to it?

Chris Odu: That’s a brilliant question. Please, we can actually give him another round of applause again. And like I said, you know, head boy, their own question. Once you hear it, you know that it’s head boy question. And I’m being, it’s actually difficult for me because I don’t want Adama to answer this again. I want to give it to another person, but he’s putting it on government. So, that’s why she’s the government representative here. So, I don’t know which of the panelists would like to take the question. Please go ahead.

Panelist: Okay. So, government has a lot of, there’s a lot of government and civic engagement that goes on, especially when new laws and policies are supposed to be ruled out. And like the previous speakers and even this panelist have said, the responsibility of educating the general populace, including children like yourselves, do not rest on the government alone, but it rests on your teachers, corporate bodies and organizations, law firms, everybody involved in the ecosystem actually has the responsibility to educate. And I think that government also has platforms where when you have questions.

Chris Odu: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. Um, no, no, I think we have a lot of questions already. Someone is still asking, okay, that’s cool. Okay. I wanted to give it to Emil because we’ve had panelists of ladies, but since you’re already up, I would give it to you.

Audience: Okay. Good day, everyone. My name is Ansem Michelle. I’m the head girl of GSS student order. And my question is, is it possible if Pidgin English could be implemented in projects or apps so that people who don’t, who are not fluent in English could also understand the projects of technology as well. And also other languages which are not part of it.

Chris Odu: Please another round of applause. I really love that question. That’s that has to do, that has to do with local contents. We shouldn’t leave people behind. So we would like to take that quick. Okay. Mr. Kingsley. No, no, no, please. I don’t want to that much to go to speak again, please.

Kingsley Owadara: Okay. So there are a lot of work that is going on, on making technology, um, localized and it is not just Pidgin English. There are also other languages like Yoruba, Ausa, Igbo, um, Idoma and all the likes, both in Swahili, um, Arabic and the likes. But the particular challenge that we have in doing all those things is that the, the data sets that are available on those languages are not enough to, you know, to model an algorithm. Although there are instances where, you know, um, those, um, languages are implemented at lower level, but the bigger challenge from the bigger perspective, and I speak because I’ve listened to Professor Vokosi of Lalipa, you know, the work on local data set, talk about this, that it is very difficult to have, you know, those data in massive formats to make an algorithm. But I believe that over time, this This is still an ongoing initiative and over time there will be more efforts made to make these things available to people even at the grassroots.

Chris Odu: Thank you very much Mr Kingsley and I actually agree with you as well. We do need technical expertise, we do need people, we need to build our capacity so that people who actually understand these languages can actually start building larger data sets for us to be able to incorporate these things into the applications that we use. And I’ll just wrap up this session. And most times when we attend sessions like this, sometimes you’re unable to capture everything. But one thing I want to back home with are keywords, which would give you a lead to always remember what we’ve discussed here. And I do have some keywords for us, which is capacity building, representation, responsibility, collaboration, harmonization of policies, adequate representation, yes that’s a representation. So I would like to use this opportunity to say a very big thank you to my panelists. It’s not easy to bring in people of this caliber to speak. So thank you very much for your time as well and your insight. And that’s a wrap. Let’s just take a group picture and that’s… I hope I’m not missing anyone online.

Agreement points

Importance of capacity building and stakeholder involvement

Speakers

– Binty Mansaray
– Adamma Isamade
– Kingsley Owadara

Arguments

Need for capacity building and technical expertise

Importance of inclusive policymaking and stakeholder involvement

Harmonization of digital policies and standards across countries

Summary

The speakers agree on the need for comprehensive capacity building, inclusive policymaking, and harmonization of digital policies across West Africa.

Tailoring policies to local context

Speakers

– Adamma Isamade
– Panelist

Arguments

Importance of inclusive policymaking and stakeholder involvement

Need to tailor laws and policies to local context and realities

Summary

Both speakers emphasize the importance of adapting policies to reflect local realities and involve relevant stakeholders in the policymaking process.

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers advocate for a collaborative approach in digital development, emphasizing the need for partnerships between various stakeholders to advance regional digital integration.

Speakers

– Kingsley Owadara
– Regine Bambara

Arguments

Harmonization of digital policies and standards across countries

Telecom operators shifting from service providers to development partners

Unexpected consensus

Challenges in implementing inclusive policymaking

Speakers

– Adamma Isamade
– Audience

Arguments

Logistical difficulties in bringing all stakeholders to the table

Importance of research and continuous stakeholder engagement

Explanation

Despite representing different perspectives (government and public), both acknowledge the challenges and importance of inclusive policymaking, highlighting an unexpected area of agreement between policymakers and the public.

Overall assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement include the need for capacity building, inclusive policymaking, and tailoring policies to local contexts in West Africa’s digital development.

Consensus level

There is a moderate level of consensus among the speakers on key issues. This suggests a shared understanding of the challenges and potential solutions in developing digital public infrastructure in West Africa, which could facilitate more effective collaboration and policy implementation in the region.

Different viewpoints

Approach to stakeholder involvement in policymaking

Speakers

– Adamma Isamade
– Audience

Arguments

Adamma Isamade highlights the challenges in involving all stakeholders in the policymaking process. She mentions logistical nightmares and the difficulty of managing diverse opinions while still producing effective policies.

An audience member emphasizes the importance of research and continuous stakeholder engagement in policy formulation. They argue that policies should be based on thorough research and involve ongoing consultation with relevant stakeholders.

Summary

While Adamma Isamade acknowledges the importance of stakeholder involvement, she emphasizes the practical challenges of including everyone. The audience member, however, argues for more extensive and continuous stakeholder engagement, suggesting that insufficient consultation leads to policy revisions.

Unexpected differences

Overall assessment

Summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around the extent and practicality of stakeholder involvement in policymaking, and the approach to creating context-appropriate policies.

Disagreement level

The level of disagreement among the speakers is relatively low. Most participants agree on the fundamental goals of improving digital infrastructure, policies, and accessibility in West Africa. The disagreements are primarily about implementation strategies and practical considerations. These differences in perspective can be constructive, potentially leading to more comprehensive and nuanced approaches to digital development in the region.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers advocate for a collaborative approach in digital development, emphasizing the need for partnerships between various stakeholders to advance regional digital integration.

Speakers

– Kingsley Owadara
– Regine Bambara

Arguments

Harmonization of digital policies and standards across countries

Telecom operators shifting from service providers to development partners

Key takeaways

There is a need for robust and inclusive digital public infrastructure across West Africa

Policy harmonization and regional cooperation are crucial for digital integration

Capacity building and technical expertise development are essential

Policies and AI governance should reflect local contexts and regional values

Multi-stakeholder involvement is important in policy formulation

Private sector actors like telecom operators should shift to being development partners

Localization of technology, including use of local languages, faces data challenges

Resolutions and action items

Establish multi-stakeholder coordination platforms for policy development

Align investment and funding mechanisms with regional digital priorities

Contextualize and tailor policies to local realities

Increase efforts to build datasets for local language technology implementation

Unresolved issues

Specific steps for harmonizing policies across West African countries

Concrete plans for educating youth about policy formulation processes

Detailed strategies for including marginalized communities in digital infrastructure development

Methods to overcome logistical challenges in bringing all stakeholders to policymaking discussions

Suggested compromises

Balance between having many stakeholders involved and the practical limitations of policymaking

Use broad, flexible principles in laws and regulations to allow for easier future adjustments

Combine borrowed policy frameworks with tailoring to local contexts

We need to not just ask for funding, but also for capacity training.

Speaker

Binty Mansaray

Reason

This comment shifts the focus from simply seeking financial support to emphasizing the importance of building local expertise and capabilities.

Impact

It set the tone for subsequent discussions on capacity building and self-reliance in digital infrastructure development.

Your advocacy needs to transcend just a sector of people, educated people. It needs to transcend that. Remember, AI tools and even the digital public infrastructure, the aim, the core of having all those things in place is that everyone should be at par.

Speaker

Adamma Isamade

Reason

This comment highlights the importance of inclusivity in digital advocacy and policy-making, emphasizing the need to consider diverse populations beyond just the educated elite.

Impact

It broadened the conversation to include considerations for marginalized communities and local contexts in digital policy development.

We need to be able to tailor our laws to reflect our current realities.

Speaker

Unnamed panelist

Reason

This comment challenges the practice of blindly adopting foreign policies and emphasizes the need for contextually relevant legislation.

Impact

It sparked a discussion on the importance of creating policies that address local needs and realities rather than simply mirroring foreign laws.

Is it possible if Pidgin English could be implemented in projects or apps so that people who don’t, who are not fluent in English could also understand the projects of technology as well. And also other languages which are not part of it.

Speaker

Ansem Michelle (student)

Reason

This question from a student brings attention to language barriers in technology adoption and the need for localization.

Impact

It led to a discussion on the challenges and ongoing efforts in developing localized technology solutions, highlighting the importance of linguistic inclusivity in digital infrastructure.

Overall assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by consistently emphasizing themes of inclusivity, contextual relevance, and capacity building in digital infrastructure development. They broadened the conversation beyond technical aspects to include social, cultural, and linguistic considerations, highlighting the complex, multifaceted nature of digital policy development in West Africa. The comments also underscored the importance of local expertise and tailored solutions, rather than simply adopting foreign models or relying on external support.

How can we better harmonize digital policies across West African countries?

Speaker

Chris Odu

Explanation

Harmonizing policies is crucial for seamless digital transactions and integration across the region.

What are the logistical challenges in bringing all stakeholders to the table when formulating policies?

Speaker

Adamma Isamade

Explanation

Understanding these challenges is important for improving inclusive policy-making processes.

How can we establish effective multi-stakeholder coordination platforms for digital policy development?

Speaker

Kingsley Owadara

Explanation

Such platforms are essential for inclusive and comprehensive policy formulation.

How can we better align investment and funding mechanisms with regional priorities in digital development?

Speaker

Kingsley Owadara

Explanation

Proper alignment of funds is crucial for addressing the most pressing digital needs in the region.

How can we tailor borrowed policies to better fit local contexts and realities?

Speaker

Panelist (unnamed legal expert)

Explanation

Adapting policies to local needs is crucial for their effectiveness and relevance.

What is the role of research in policy formulation for digital infrastructure?

Speaker

Audience member (Engineer Chidi Gwebulam)

Explanation

Research is fundamental to creating evidence-based policies that truly benefit the people.

How can we implement local languages, including Pidgin English, in technology projects and apps?

Speaker

Audience member (Ansem Michelle)

Explanation

Incorporating local languages is important for making technology accessible to non-English speakers.

What steps is the government taking to educate young people about policy formulation?

Speaker

Audience member (Eugene Victor)

Explanation

Educating youth about policy processes is crucial for future civic engagement and policy development.