Digitization of African Economies to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals SDGs

Today I would like to share with you about the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

What are these sustainable development goals SDGs?

They are also known as global goals, and they are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. There are 17 SDGs in number.

Are they achievable?

My answer is affirmative to this question because I believe we have the potential to imagine and if we can imagine, it means we have the ideas that can help us achieve this universal call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by each and every one of us contributing in their own and unique way.

What is the role of digitization in this whole puzzle?

Digitization is a revolution and at the same time an opportunity that has ensured many more human connections through access to information. This is mainly being driven by the telecommunication services and the internet. For instance there are over 500 million unique mobile users on the African continent and growing.

This represents an opportunity to provide more digitized services to revitalize and grow economies. Among the digital services currently being provided are electronic retail payments, which have spurred growth in both the formal and informal sector. For the first time many who were underserved and excluded from the economic system are actively participating.

This financial inclusion facilitated by the digitization process has benefited the general population but more specifically women and has enabled their further empowerment. This is because digital payments ensure greater account ownership and asset accumulation thus enhancing the economic participation of women. As a result, has enabled the creation of sustainable business models that support productivity and growth through initiatives like the One Acre Fund programme in the agricultural sector, among many more that are operational on the continent.

Providing an enabling environment for the creation of these sustainable business models is surely a step in the right direction to the universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Thank you for your attention!! Looking forward to your thoughts.