The experts taking part in the workshop Projects across Economic Sectors: Current Challenges and Opportunities for Cooperation with African Countries discussed digital transformation in the key industries and promising solutions for African countries.
Nikolay Golovko, Lead Expert of the Center for African Studies at HSE University, outlined governments’ expectations from digital transformation. On the positive side, there are cuts in administrative costs and higher efficiency of public resource management.
The participants highlighted the issues of digital sovereignty, infrastructure development, and the training of industry professionals.
“Digital sovereignty is the ability of a state to control its digital transformation and digital environment, and to govern it for the benefit of the nation. This covers security, critical systems resilience, sensitive data control, the development of national solutions and technical competencies, and the ability to make independent technical decisions,” Golovko emphasized.
Nathaniel Mong'are, Director of Communications of the United Democratic Alliance (Kenya), noted that his country is interested in equal cooperation with Russia and joint development of digital solutions tailored to local conditions.
He also spoke about the need to develop digital infrastructure and create conditions for implementing innovations, as well as proposed joining efforts in the field of cryptocurrency.
“Last year, Kenya adopted a law regulating virtual assets, namely cryptocurrency. That is why our country would like to partner with you in cross-border transactions if Russia has any solutions or companies that are working with cryptocurrency. Just know that Kenya is open for business,” he said.
The participants also discussed their expectations in partnerships, the quality of collected data, and their subsequent use.
