[ad_1]
Economic Commission for Africa
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is making significant progress in supporting African countries to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) to boost digital trade on the continent.
Ms Daya Bragante, Head of the Subregional Initiatives Group at the ECA Subregional Office for East Africa (SRO-EA), said this at the 39th meeting of the ECA Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Finance Ministers, Planning and Economic Development. monitored by the Ghana News Agency.
The presentation focused on the implementation of the resolutions of the 52nd session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, and the extraordinary 2020 meeting of the Bureau of the Economic Commission for Africa.
Ms Bragante noted that the increasing impact of digitization reveals that there is an urgent need to continue developing the capacity of Member States so that their economies can take advantage of digital trade to foster economic development across the sector.
He said that with the AfCFTA now in place, there was scope for pursuing regional strategies to develop Africa’s digital economy.
“ECA has been supporting the African Union Commission in developing a digital strategy for Africa. The continental digital transformation strategy is designed to harness the benefits of digitization and support the implementation of digital commerce, digital identity and digital economy programs in support of the AfCFTA, ”said Madam Bragante.
He said CEPA was working on establishing the Digital Earth Africa program to provide a unique, purpose-built platform that could translate more than 50 years of Earth observation satellite imagery into information and knowledge about changes in the earth and the world. sea in Africa.
Digital Earth Africa will build on Data Cube technology to deliver unique continental-scale framework and tools that democratize the ability to process and analyze satellite data into out-of-the-box insights into the continent’s environmental conditions, including soil and coastal erosion. , the Agriculture. , forest and desert monitoring, water management and changes in human settlements, disaster risk management and other processes.
Ms Bragante said that the Center of Excellence for Digital Identity, Commerce and the Digital Economy, established in 2018, was providing the necessary support to Member States to use digitization as a catalyst for inclusive and sustainable growth in Africa.
“In particular, the Center will promote the harmonization of standards in member states, support the development of regulations to safeguard security and the promotion of infrastructure investments, and develop the capacity and skills of key stakeholders, including the private sector, so they can seize opportunities for innovation and job creation that digitization presents, ”he said.
In addition, the Center would seek the support provided by the ECA for the creation of a digital common market under the AfCFTA so that countries can take advantage of the opportunities and benefits associated with the digital economy in a continental market.
As one of its key products, the Center focuses on developing strategic and legal frameworks for a harmonized legal identity that is based on a robust and digitization-enabled civil registration system.
The conference on the theme, Sustainable Industrialization and Diversification of Africa in the Digital Age in the Context of COVID-19, is attended by technical experts from across Africa.
