With current advancements in information and communication technology (ICT), Africans don’t have excuses for mediocrity because they are able to access the same kinds of information that people elsewhere are using to improve their lives, President Paul Kagame has said.

The Head of State delivered the message while speaking on the last day of the second edition of Transform Africa Summit, which was concluded in Kigali yesterday.

"In Africa, we are fully aware that our continent has often missed opportunities to accelerate development. In placing ICT at the core of our transformation agenda, we can make sure that Africa is never again left behind,” Kagame told participants at the summit.

Video: President Kagame delivers Keynote address at Transform Africa Summit - Kigali, 21 October 2015. Source: Paul Kagame/YouTube.

He called upon all government and business leaders in Africa to place ICTs at the centre of their activities if they are to achieve results in their countries’ development.

"ICT dimension has to inform everything we do in government, and outside of it. Just as with women’s empowerment, it cuts across all departments and portfolios. This means everyone is responsible for integrating ICT into the work of their institutions,” Kagame said.

He urged Africans to work hard to achieve the level of digital evolution that they want and also said that once they have adequate ICT development, there will be no more excuses for lagging behind because they will be effectively connected to the rest of the world.

"ICT is increasingly making access to world-class education and information affordable to everyone. Africa can no longer be excluded from globalisation. We can develop our human capital and productivity using the same methods that are taken for granted in many other places,” he said.

Charting ICT development

The more than 2,500 delegates who attended the summit, representing more than 850 ICT companies and over 80 countries worldwide, discussed critical issues affecting the growth of the ICT industry in Africa.

Also at the centre of discussions at the summit was how to invest in home-grown solutions, innovative and win-win partnerships, as well as the right regulatory policies to attract about $300 billion of investments in Africa’s ICT projects.

Experts say investments in ICT in Africa were estimated at around $70 billion in 2013 when the first Transform Africa Summit was held in Kigali.

President Kagame called upon participants at the summit to put the discussions they had to good use and drive forward the ICT sector in Africa.

"I hope we will take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge and experience present at this summit, and the global partnerships we have forged to drive Africa’s digital revolution. And it should be a revolution in the real sense, not just good words,” Kagame said.

"Results will come from what we do. Main task is to collaborate and get results as fast as we can,” he added.

The three-day summit was co-organised by the Government of Rwanda and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), with support of the World Bank.

The Secretary General of the ITU, Houlin Zhao, lauded some of the achievements in the development of ICTs in Africa, such as the popular use of mobile money services and the scrapping of roaming fees to make calls between some countries such as in East Africa.

But he also added that a lot more was needed in order to advance ICTs further.

"Africa has achieved a lot. But Africa can still do much more. I am confident that together we can increase the social and economic development of Africa. Together we can transform Africa,” Houlin said during yesterday’s the morning session.

Both leaders agree that there are still challenges to the development of ICT in Africa, including the lack of the right skills, tools, infrastructure, and financial resources.

Whatever the challenges, investments in the ICTs have to remain a priority given the crosscutting nature of the sector, emphasized President Kagame.

"Investment in ICT isn’t going to come at the expense of other sectors. If you invest in ICT, you are indirectly and directly investing in other sectors too,” he said.

Under the ‘Smart Africa Manifesto’, which was adopted by the first edition of the Transform Africa Summit in 2013 in Kigali and later adopted by African heads of state, African governments have committed to putting information and communication technology at the centre of national socio-economic development agendas.

They have also committed to improving access to ICT, especially broadband, improving accountability and efficiency as well as openness through ICT, putting the private sector at the centre of economic transformation, and leveraging ICT to promote sustainable development.

The leaders panel on which President Kagame spoke included Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda, Prime Minister Modibo Keita of Mali, Telecomminications Minister Jose Carvalho of Angola,Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Vocational Training and Integration of Youth Flavien Nziengui Nzoundou of Gabon, ICT Minister Fred Matiang’i of Kenya, Minister of Telecommunication Rebecca Joshua of South Sudan.

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