AU, EU Harp On Digital Cooperation To Scale Up Sustainable Development In Africa

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) have harped on the need to step up digital cooperation in order to boost sustainable development in Africa.
This is coming after the EU-AU Summit which was in held in Belgium recently. Currently, only 33 percent of African people use the Internet, compared to a world average of 63 percent, closing the digital divide and connecting the unconnected meaningfully has become a top priority in AU-EU relations
Joint efforts are particularly needed to ensure that women, rural populations, and youth reap the benefits of the digital transformation. Notably, digital cooperation is the cornerstone of the AU-EU strategic partnership. Moreover, both unions have jointly agreed on the importance of digital technologies, data, and innovations as drivers for inclusive job creation and sustainable development.
In addition, a safe, sustainable, and inclusive digital transformation holds a great potential to support a green recovery and a more resilient economy. The AU-EU digital partnership can help address the pressing need to expand and deepen regional value chains and harmonise policies, legislation, and regulations, as well as safeguarding data sovereignty.
In December 2018, both parties launched the EU-AU Digital Economy Task Force aimed at identifying concrete policy recommendations and proposing concrete actions to address the principal barriers and increase cooperation in the digital field.
The recommendations of the Task Force are mirrored in the AU Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa 2020 – 2030 and have guided the design of cooperation projects funded by the EU and its Member States, such as the AU-EU D4D Hub.
The AU-EU D4D Hub supports African institutions to create an enabling environment for an inclusive digital transformation. The project provides demand-driven technical assistance, promotes knowledge sharing, and facilitates dialogues.
The Hub is a flagship Team Europe project, co-funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by eight European organisations. It is part of the D4D Hub, an EU-led platform that creates and leverages partnerships to shape a sustainable digital future worldwide
The observation was made at the first Africa-Europe Digital for Development (D4D) Hub Multi-Stakeholder Forum, which took place on 18 March, under the theme “Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development in Africa”.
The event, which took place virtually, was co-hosted by the African Union Commission and the European Commission with the aim of promoting exchanges and collaboration with private sector, enterprises, civil society organisations, and experts in the digital field from both continents.
While recounting Africa’s digital transformation journey, the AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Dr Amani Abou-Zeid said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the importance of digital technologies, data and innovation to keep the continent’s businesses, healthcare, education and public services running among others.
“These exceptional times have also shown the urgency to invest in secure and affordable Africa’s digital infrastructure, digital skills, digital identity, data management and build on Africa’s innovation potential and entrepreneurship. The AU welcomes the enhanced partnership with the EU that is based on respect, transparency, equal opportunity, win-win approach and agreed tangible outcome and further engagement with African and European stakeholders to accelerate the digital transformation of our continent”, he said.
Similarly, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Ms Jutta Urpilainen noted that a bold step to collectively actualize the goals agreed upon at the EU-AU summit has been taken at the Africa-Europe Digital for Development (D4D) Hub Multi-Stakeholder Forum.
“Today we kicked off a much-needed dialogue with our private sector and civil society partners in Africa and Europe to build a shared digital future that leaves no one behind. This is the first step in implementing concretely the deliverables of the recent EU-AU Summit. In line with the Global Gateway Strategy, the EU will scale up investments, support innovation, and promote digital rights. Bridging the digital divide is key in fighting inequalities. To achieve this, we must work together with all our partners in the digital ecosystem”, she added.
Participants at the AU-EU D4D Hub Multi-Stakeholder Forum also stressed the need to invest in digital skills to exploit the potential of digital innovation for decent job creation in the digital world. With 70 percent of Africa’s population under the age of 30, digital entrepreneurship offers untapped opportunities for youth. Best practices were identified to steer multi-stakeholder collaborations for digital skills development and support of local innovation ecosystems.
The Forum was held one month after the 6th EU-AU Summit, where leaders from both continents announced a €150 billion Africa-Europe Investment Package, which amongst other priorities aims to accelerate Africa’s sustainable digital transformation.
This ambition aligns with the EU Global Gateway, a strategy set out to boost smart, clean, and secure investments in connectivity, and the AU Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa 2020 – 2030, which aims to transform Africa’s economies and societies by harnessing digital technologies, the potential of data and innovation for the benefit of people. It also supports the outcomes of the 35th AU Summit, held from 5 to 6 February 2022, which called for the acceleration Africa’s quality infrastructure development.