ECA’s new report calls for adoption of digital transformation strategy in Africa

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) released its flagship economic report on Africa. The report titled ‘Innovative Finance for Private Sector Development in Africa’ explores innovative financing to provide solutions to the challenges of private sector financing. In order to increase the private sector’s resilience to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report calls upon African nations to espouse the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to streamline policies and regulation. In response to the report, Central Bank of Lesotho Governor Adelaide Matlanyane underscored the ‘adaptable solutions to the unique circumstances of Africa. Governments should be moving to the provision of e-services and adopting technology to enhance financial inclusion’. Moreover, founder and CEO of Pan-African Capital Holdings Ltd Iraj Abedian underlined the importance of addressing ‘the fragmentation of regulation hinders the development of financial technologies (fintech), which requires scale to be successful’.