By our Reporter
Following recent developments in the media space, it has been confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria have emerged Africa ICT Champions for the year 2022.
This disclosure was made at the Award Announcement session coordinated by Dr Jimson Olufuye, founder and 1st Chair of the Africa Information and Communication Technologies Alliance (AfICTA) held at the end of its 10th Summit held last week.
Both the President and Vice-President of Nigeria were voted winners for engendering more than 18% ICT contribution to Nigeria’s GDP in 2022 and 40% overall ICT value chain contribution to the Nigerian economy. They were represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande at the closing ceremony.
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The Special Guest of Honour, HE Prof. Yemi Osinbajo through Mr Akande, in his address, appreciated AfICTA for the Award bestowed on them and congratulated AfICTA on the occasion of its 10th Anniversary, acknowledging the immeasurable growths AfICTA witnessed in the past 10 years (most importantly how AfICTA grew from a 6 Member Nation Alliance in 2012 (at its founding) to over 38 Nations in Africa by 2022. He also congratulated AfICTA on its advocacy for the realization of the promise of the digital age for every one in Africa.
The other dignitaries at the event were the Nigerian Minister of Information and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ibrahim Ali (Pantami) and his Mauritius counterpart, Hon. Darsanand Balgobin as the 2022 Africa ICT Personality Award winners; Mr Sina Aiyegbusi, Head, Group Information Technology and Digital Banking GTBank as the 2022 Africa CIO Award winner. The 2022 Innovation Award went to Mr. Eric Sindeu, the Founder & CEO, KEMITEL Ltd of Cameroon. The 2022 Africa Community Development Award went to Mr. Ahmed Ismael, the CEO, Siyafunda Community Technology Centre based in South Africa.
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Upon congratulating the winners, the Chairman of AfICTA, Mr. Thabo Mashegoane encouraged other participants who didn’t make it this year to keep participating in future contests.
Notably, the theme of the AfICTA 10th Anniversary Summit was “Africa Digital Future: Fostering a New Paradigm”. The summit witnessed several sessions geared towards fostering the digital agenda and the realization of the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa.
It is of course pertinent to note that the Africa Information & Communication Technologies Alliance – AfICTA is a concerned private sector led alliance of ICT Associations, Multi-national Corporations, Companies, Organisations, and individuals in the ICT sector in Africa.
