Ghanatodayonline.com News, Politics, Health, Education & More
MTN’s Group Chief Commercial Officer, Selorm Adadevoh, has underlined the importance of educating and empowering young people in order to propel technological change in Africa.
On the second day of the 2024 African Prosperity Dialogue, which is presently taking place in Accra, Ghana, he made this statement.
Mr. Adadevoh emphasized the benefits of utilizing youth power to propel Africa to the forefront of technology during a panel discussion on “Critical Enablers for Single Market Success – Leveraging Infrastructure, Innovation, and Technology.”
He said, “Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to technology. About 50% of the population does not have access to internet services. According to the World Bank, we will need about 1.7 trillion dollars to invest in infrastructure to catch up with the rest of the world in the next 10 to 15 years.”
He added, “transformation, I believe, begins with the mindset. The chain of influencing infrastructure transformation starts from what we are willing to do. One area we need to tackle to solve this issue is education. It is not enough to invest in the infrastructure without investing in the skills needed. Africa has the largest youth population in the world. We must harness the power of the youth by transforming our current educational system towards a more digital framework.”
Mr. Adadevoh also explained the importance of creating markets within our markets in pushing Africa to the forefront of technology. He further added, “Until we start to create markets within our markets, this will not be economically viable. We must begin to rely on ourselves to find cheaper solutions to our problems. A lot of payment options around the world started on this continent but have been sold. This is because of the barriers in trade across African countries. There must be a collective effort to break these barriers and allow ease of transaction so that we can collaborate towards building the Africa we all wish to see.”
The main goal of the three-day Africa Prosperity Dialogues is to suggest specific actions that will accelerate Africa’s development. The three-day high-level discussion, with the theme “Delivering Prosperity in Africa: Produce. Add Value. Trade,” brings together business and government leaders from throughout Africa and beyond to discuss and share ideas on important problems and strategies for fostering and maximizing the continent’s growth.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
