Today we celebrate the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day. Never this celebration was as important as this year.

Since the eruption of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, most governments, organizations, businesses and individuals have been mainly operating and interacting online. Digitalization has moved from a value addition to a survival game changer. The pandemic crisis has made it clear to everyone that digitalization is the infrastructure of the 21st century. Moreover, this crisis has become the single biggest catalyst for a digital transformation in Africa.

The crisis also confirmed the pertinence to accelerate the implementation of the Digital Transformation Strategy (DTS) for Africa. With the introduction of COVID-19 related restrictions, the importance of digital technologies in businesses, healthcare, education and public services has been brought to the fore, and Africa has embraced the use of digital technologies on an unprecedented scale to keep people safe, as well as to ensure continuity of general life, education and businesses. These exceptional times have shown the resilience of Internet as well as the shortcomings of Africa's Internet infrastructure.

It is important to recall that as early as May 2020, under AU umbrella, the African Ministers responsible for Communication and ICT met to call for expediting the implementation of the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa, and for continental organizations to coordinate the development and use of a recognized warning and tracing applications and tools that respond to Africa context. The AU Ministers’ declaration on ICT response to COVID-19 further encouraged “the use of digital platforms, portals and applications especially those developed by Africans for Africans, that can help Trace, Track and Test people who have come into contact with an infected person while balancing health imperatives and privacy concerns and data protection”.

It is highly encouraging to witness the ingenuity, innovation and speed with which our African Member States and our African women and men have embraced digital technologies:

• South Africa launched the official National Department of Health of WhatsApp for Business chatbox designed to deliver critical and accurate COVID-19 information, the latest COVID-19 news and developments;
• Ghana COVID-19 Tracker App to trace contacts of persons infected by the virus and show where they have been in recent times through various telephone-related data, and link such people to health professionals for urgent action to be taken;
• StaySafeIQ, a multifaceted application developed by a Guinean Startup as a contact tracing solution which will allow health officials, doctors and government officials to find anyone who comes in direct contact with a confirmed COVID-19 positive patient;
• The Tunisian Web-based X-ray lung scans, an online platform created to determine if a person could be suffering from coronavirus.
• The Egyptian Knowledge Bank; Egypt opted the continuation of the school year through its national online platform The Egyptian Knowledge Bank which includes resources that provide access to learning resources and tools for educators, researchers, students (K to 12, in addition to technical classes), and all citizens of Egypt. Students in Egypt had also the opportunity to continue learning and interact daily with teachers through Edmodo.

Also the potential of young people’s capacity in developing useful applications has been unleashed to fight and stop the spread of the virus. Among other young innovators that developed homegrown solutions to tackle COVID-19, one can mention the following;

• Four young tech-enthusiasts from Mauritania, El Hacen DIA, Mamadou DIA, Aliou DIA and Abdellahi DIA that developed Stop Corona; a contact tracing app which also educates the public and users about the attitudes and behaviors to adopt if they test positive to COVID-19. It also provides users with information on how to avoid being infected.
• Kenneth Mwandingi from Namibia, founder of Ergo Analytics that developed a tech solution, which improves contact tracing, to reduce the risk of new cases of COVID-19 infections, to help avoid the country going into economy-damaging lockdowns.

While applauding the dynamism of African governments and people in setting prompt and suitable solutions as a response to the pandemic, we must not fail to see the wood for the trees. The share of African individuals using internet estimated to 30% in 2019 against a world average of 60% remains a major concern as digitalization benefits are not for all. Two Africans out 3 may be left behind — with mainly women and rural populations.

The celebration of 2021 World Telecommunications and Information Society Day on 17 May under the theme “Accelerating Digital Transformation in challenging times"is appropriate as it will highlight the need for increased inclusiveness for all to reap the benefits of digital transformation. The theme further confirms the timely adoption of the Digital Transformation Strategy (DTS) for Africa in February 2020 to contribute to the realization of “An integrated and inclusive Digital Society and Economy in Africa that improves the quality of life of Africa’s citizens”.

As we all are aware, the digital transformation on our Continent requires holistic interventions to address all issues including digitalizing critical sectors to drive the expected transformation and cross-cutting themes such as cybersecurity, digital ID, emerging technologies inter alia. This year, the AU Commission has been focusing on digital health, digital education, digital agriculture, digital ID, and data policy as priority areas.

Time is running and is not in our favor as we are in a very changing dynamic world. Furthermore, required human, financial and technical resources for the full implementation of the DTS are huge and imply the involvement of all stakeholders.

I therefore would like to seize the opportunity of the celebration of the 2021 World Telecommunications and Information Society Day to appeal for strong partnerships as we implement policies and actions to support the continental strategy on COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is a pandemic that is a global threat and its eradication requires diversified contributions from all. Partnering is key to overcome COVID-19 and we are not safe until we are all safe.

I wish you all successful and happy 2021 World Telecommunications and Information Society Day celebrations for the welfare of all Africans regardless of gender, location, age or level of income or literacy!