3rd AfICTA Summit – ICT: Lighting the way to Development and Prosperity Across Africa
Africa is home to over 1 billion people and is the region with the greatest economic growth potential for the foreseeable future given the growing intra Africa trade of about 10%. The fulcrum of the 3rd Africa Summit is to enable the transformative power of Information and Communication Technologies to light the way to development and prosperity and thus empower and enrich people across Africa. This event adds leverage to the vision of AfICTA which is to fulfil the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa. The 3rd AfICTA Summit brings together business, government and ICT professionals across Africa with the focus of fostering ICTs adoption in all segments of African life; be it in arts, entertainment, tourism, business, governance, health care, exploration, education, research, elections, sports, agriculture or mining.
Objective
The objective of this Summit is to explore innovative ways of moving the continent beyond the WSIS goals through the application of appropriate policies, profitable investment and good governance using Information and Communication Technologies.
Strategic Focus
Following the success of the 1st AfICTA Summit in Lagos and the 2nd one in Cairo, this 3rd Summit moves to Johannesburg to unite the voices of Southern Africa with those in the West and North of Africa who have pledged their desire to support the Smart Africa agenda pioneered by His Excellency, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and strongly supported by His Excellency the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, President El-sisi with the patronage of the Egyptian Minister of Communication and Information Technology, H.E. Engr Atef Elmy. The Summit will seek to create and enhance partnerships that can accelerate ICT enabled development through increased last mile broadband access, creative and innovative applications (including mobile) to engender wealth creation, inclusive cultural rejuvenation (through effective presence on the Internet), safe health management, digital literacy, and participatory governance towards all round prosperity for Africans. The Summit is an excellent opportunity for governments and the private sector leaders to exchange experiences and best practices on ICT industry specific issues such as multiple taxation, investment for job creation and infrastructure development. It will also present opportunities to proffer solutions to societal challenges and in particular challenges confronting the open, stable, secure and resilient Internet (such as cybersecurity and Internet Governance) on which African renaissance rests.