President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that South Africa and the wider African continent have broken the cycle of playing “digital catch-up” and are firmly in the driving seat of a technological revolution that will catalyse jobs and modernise public services.
The President was speaking at the first Google Cloud Summit held on the African continent at the Sandton Convention Centre on Wednesday.
“The regional Google Cloud Summits are the premier technology and enterprise events for showcasing the latest innovations in cloud computing, AI [artificial intelligence] and digital transformation. This event affirms Africa’s position as a core growth region for the global cloud ecosystem.
“This is so because Africa is no longer simply adopting technologies developed elsewhere. We are becoming a place where new digital solutions are imagined, tested and scaled,” President Ramaphosa noted.
He highlighted that Africa has an opportunity to be at the cutting edge of industrialisation.
“For far too long, Africa has had to play digital catch-up with the world’s leading and most industrialised economies. We are now presented with a unique opportunity to be in the driving seat of our own industrialisation and growth.
“Technology will unlock entirely new industries, improve the competitiveness of existing firms and create opportunities for thousands of entrepreneurs who today face barriers to entering the formal economy,” the President stated.
He welcomed Google’s latest investment in South Africa’s, which will be announced at the Summit – describing them as a significant vote of confidence in the country’s economic trajectory and structural reforms.
“They will catalyse job creation, support the growth of small and medium enterprises, and, above all, enhance our global competitiveness.
“Cloud and AI are reshaping the global landscape at a pace unprecedented in human history. As South Africa, we stand ready to harness these shifts to transform our economy and society,” he said.
A fitting match
The President described South Africa as the continent’s “digital investment powerhouse and Africa’s largest cloud market” and hosts approximately 70 percent of the continent’s hyperscale data centre capacity.
Additionally, Cape Town was recently ranked as the third-highest startup ecosystem on the continent.
“South Africa and Google are a perfect match. South Africa combines world-class financial markets, sophisticated legal institutions, deep engineering capability, globally respected universities and a growing innovation ecosystem.
“These are precisely the ingredients required for a thriving AI economy,” the President noted.
Furthermore, the push towards digitisation aligns with government’s ongoing economic turnaround strategy.
“A critical part of the structural reforms being coordinated through Operation Vulindlela is the creation of a comprehensive digital public infrastructure for South Africa that will serve as the backbone of our modern economy.
“Secure, interoperable digital systems will support digitalisation across the public and private sectors, foster financial inclusion and scale up the delivery of public services.
“A key strategic priority of our government is inclusive growth and job creation, and we have been clear on the role a robust digital infrastructure must play in achieving this goal. We are greatly encouraged that Google shares this view,” he said.
The President praised Google’s commitment for being a “steadfast partner in Africa’s development journey” and added that the continent and South Africa have ambitions that go deeper.
“Our ambition is not simply to expand and host data centres. Our ambition is to build companies. To produce researchers. To commercialise African ideas. To create intellectual property that competes globally,
“Ours is the generation called upon to build the digital infrastructure that will power the African century. Let future generations say that when the opportunity came, Africa chose ambition over hesitation, innovation over imitation and partnership over isolation.
“Together we will ensure that the technologies shaping tomorrow are developed in ways that advance human dignity, expand opportunity and improve the lives of all our people,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za
