The 2022 edition of the Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition has been scheduled to hold on June 28-30, at the Baze University, Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital with the theme: “Positioning Africa in the global tech race.”
The 10th in the series, the Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition, widely adjudged as a premier continental technology show, began in 2013 as a result of the discovery by the organisers that there is an unacceptable huge gap between African continents and the rest of the world with regards to ICT, just like it is when it comes to development, where Africa lags behind other parts of the World.
Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami only last year, commended the organisers of the annual event for their steadfastness saying, “The consistency with which you have organised this event attests to your commitment towards accelerating the development of Africa’s technology ecosystem.”
Explaining further why they initiated the annual conference, Chairman of Digital Africa, organisers of the annual technology show, Dr. Evans Woherem said, “In the 1960s when most of us were growing up, we thought we could remedy the situation through education. As a result of that, a lot of us went abroad to study; the idea was to go get the Golden Fleece and bring it back home.
“We felt that by now most of our countries should either be developed or at least advanced to a certain level that is respectable in the World; that was what we thought. But when we really look at the way things are in almost all the African Countries, you see that truly we are lagging in development.”
Woherem said that it has been established time and time again that there is no development, no high standard of living without a commensurate level of development in technology, adding that in today’s world, no one or country can hope to become advanced in the area of technology without first being advanced in the development and use of technology.
“From whichever way you look at it, Information Technology is very vital and pivotal for whatever countries would want to do in order to achieve development. It is for this reason that some of us came together, not solely from Nigeria but people from the United Kingdom, Germany, Kenya, and Cameroon and said we should have an organization called Digital Africa,” he said.
According to Woherem, “Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition is about enabling Africa to bridge the gap between us and the rest of the World. This is because today, there are Companies and Countries that are already winners when it comes to IT and there are those that are losers.
“The losers are merely Countries in Africa; the winners are those developed Countries in Europe, America and now on the increase, many countries in Asia and even countries in South America such as Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. They are the winners of evolving technology we have today.
“Something needs to be done and done very urgently for us to bridge the gap. So far, Africa has been a consumer continent when it comes to IT. We just sit and consume some, not even all of what is being produced in other parts of the world.
“The IT systems that we are going to use in the next 30-40 years are already being fabricated in the laboratories of Countries in the West and some other countries like China, India and so on. But here in Africa, we are not doing much. Even in creating content in IT, Africa lags behind the rest of the world.”
Woherem recalled that in the first, second and third industrial revolutions, Africa missed out in terms of development, advising that the Fourth Industrial Revolution provides Africa with a new opportunity to leverage on and become a global technology force.
“Africa should not just be a consumer continent but a developer continent too; it’s about time Africa takes its development seriously. Those ahead of us are running as if they are on steroids and we that are running behind are so slow as if we are bedevilled by malaria. For us to catch up with those ahead of us, we must find a way to run faster than they are running. So that’s what we need to do.
“Digital Africa is a conference whose choice topics can speak to people and motivate them into action. As a result, the world now looks up to this annual event because when you are there, you are going to see a lot of things that are new,” Woherem noted.
The Conference has in the last nine years hosted ICT professionals, enthusiasts, policymakers, innovators, teachers and students of ICT from all walks of life.
