At the TechCabal Moonshot conference held in Nigeria, African leaders, including Kashifu Inuwa Abdullah, Director General of the Nigeria National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Dr. Augustina Odame, CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Technology; David Manley, Chief Advisor for Technology in Sierra Leone; and Marieme Kane, Director of Innovation at the Mauritania Ministry of Digital Transformation, emphasized the need for more strategic partnerships with the private sector to enhance the continent’s role in the digital economy.
Delegates from Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Ghana made this call during a high-level pan-African ministerial session on September 9. African leaders expressed that technological developments in the continent, which have been on the rise in recent years, need to be further accelerated. The discussions centered around the topic “Building Digital Economies for the World: How African Countries are Shaping Their Tech Economies to Compete Across the Continent and Globally.” They examined the right policy paths to strengthen Africa’s position in the global digital economy and planned strategic partnerships.
Addressing existing infrastructural gaps emerged as a key strategy. Dr. Augustina Odame, CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Technology, stated, “We’ve seen many public-private partnerships fail, but we need them. This is a key way to finance the large capital infrastructure necessary for development,” arguing that past negative experiences should not hinder future actions.
A conversation was held between Dr. Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Federal Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, and Tomiwa Aladekomo, CEO of Big Cabal Media. The Minister emphasized the importance of creating a sustainable technical talent pool through the Three Million Technical Talents (3MTT) program. According to him, technological advancements can only be realized through the proper education of the younger generation. Tomiwa Aladekomo also stressed that technology founders need to be more ambitious, stating that this is essential for Africa not to fall behind.
The TechCabal event welcomed over 3,000 delegates from Africa and different continents. Notable participants included Kola Aina, founding partner of Ventures Platform; Olumide Soyombo, founder of Voltron Capital; and Babajide Duroshola, general manager of M-KOPA. This event will continue to take place annually, with preparations for the 2025 event already underway.