The Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, has called for robust data protection and privacy measures in digital governance frameworks to safeguard individuals’ data and rights.
She was speaking during the Africa e-Governance Conference on March 12 at the Kigali Convention Centre. Under the theme "Digital Governance for Social Inclusion and Sustainable Development”, the conference is the premier digital transformation discussion connecting public and private sector leaders in Africa.
"It’s essential that the digital governance frameworks include robust data protection and privacy measures to safeguard individuals’ data and rights,” Ingabire said.
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She noted that while digital transformation is on the rise in Africa, many countries are lacking enabling frameworks consistent with their national economic objectives, which she said hampers efficient service delivery and slows down the pace of Africa’s rate of change and growth.
Ingabire highlighted a need for progressive and agile regulations to achieve seamless digital governance and inclusion across the continent, adding that enhancing infrastructure readiness is crucial.
"Alongside the right frameworks, we need multidimensional approaches to ensuring that people have the right digital skills and means to thrive in the digital economy,” she added.
As Rwanda seeks to enhance digital governance to empower citizens for economic growth and poverty reduction, Ingabire said that technology not only facilitates easy business transactions and public service accessibility, but also fosters innovation that will lead to the development of a digital economy and the transformation of vital public services like transportation, healthcare, education, and other social programmes that improve citizens’ quality of life.
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Israel Bimpe, Chief Executive Officer of Irembo, elaborated on some of the difficulties Rwanda has been facing, such as how to get Rwandans to start thinking beyond their country’s boundaries and how to best enable their country to offer experiences comparable to those of other African nations. Furthermore, how do we facilitate citizen-government interaction in any case?
"If you are doing business, if you are travelling, if you are trading, anything that you are trying to do and where you need an interaction with government, I think the digitisation journey has to lead us to that level,” he explained.
The ICT ministry claims that holding this kind of conference will boost funding for international infrastructure, satellite technology, which tries to bridge the financing gap for devices, and workforce development, which will act as a role model for accessibility and inclusivity.
Adeyinka Adeyemi, the convener of Africa e-Governance at the Africa e-Governance Conference, thanked the Government of Rwanda, and specifically the ICT ministry, for supporting this initiative.
Adeyemi said to truly realise the potential of Africa, technology must be deployed, and inclusive governance that uplifts all citizens—especially those at the bottom of the pyramid—is essential. "We have to deploy technology to drive the growth of agriculture across Africa, same for education, same for healthcare, same for transportation, and so on, these are critical sustainable development goals for Africa that we all look forward to,” he stated.
The Africa e-Governance Conference is a multi-layered platform for connection, learning, sharing, and collaboration between governments and the ICT industry in Africa.
The main goal of the Africa e-Governance Conference is to reflect on how digital governance through public sector ICT-related service delivery can bring social inclusion and sustainable development to the continent.
It also provides a multi-layered platform for connecting, learning, sharing, and collaborating between governments and the ICT industry in Africa. This conference is taking place in Kigali from March 12 to 14.