Uncategorized

If there is a silver lining to most crises, the accelerated move toward digitized commerce globally and in Africa may be one positive outcome of the COVID-enforced lockdown. It is welcome news there that the South African Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies (“Minister”) published the Draft National Data and Cloud Policy (in Government Gazette no. 44389) (“Draft Policy”) for public comment. The Draft Policy seeks to create an enabling environment for the provision of data and cloud services in an effort to move “towards a data intensive and data driven South Africa” that ensures social and economic development and inclusivity. The Draft Policy affects a few key areas, which we briefly highlight below.

The objectives of the Draft Policy are to:

  • Encourage universal access to broadband connectivity, along with access to data and cloud services;
  • Eliminate regulatory barriers and enable competition in the data and cloud sector;
  • Implement effective measures to ensure the security of cloud infrastructure;
  • Create institutional mechanisms to govern data and cloud services;
  • Support the development of small, medium, and micro enterprises (“SMMEs”);
  • Promote research, innovation, and technological developments in relation to cloud;
  • Increase the government’s capacity to deliver relevant data and cloud-based services to the public;
  • Promote data sovereignty and security with respect to South African data; and
  • Encourage alignment with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (“4IR”), the OECD Framework and standards adopted by the European Union.

Draft Policy proposal relating to digital infrastructure

The Draft Policy recognizes that digital transformation in South Africa relies upon further developing electronic communication networks, mobile communication networks, and cloud and data infrastructure services in the country.

In relation to universal access and service delivery obligations, the Draft Policy recommends a government-backed digital platform and for all South African citizens to be provided with an online identity in order to receive services more easily.

The Draft Policy discusses the need for a Wireless Open Access Network (“WOAN”) “to extend the digital infrastructure footprint and services” across the country. The Draft Policy also refers to various measures to ensure the deployment of electronic communication infrastructure, which will help to bridge the digital divide by ensuring universal access to cloud and data infrastructure services for all South Africans.

The Draft Policy also proposes that existing networks of state-owned enterprises, such as Sentech and Broadband Infraco, be consolidated to form a State Digital Infrastructure Company (“SDIC”), which will provide network connectivity for the State.
Continue Reading Overview of South Africa’s Draft National Data and Cloud Policy

What if a wall could restore degrading land or save biodiversity? Imagine that it stretched from Senegal to Djibouti, was about three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef, and made entirely of trees and vegetation. With an influx of funding from a coalition of international development banks and governments, that wall is one step closer to becoming reality.

In 2007, the African Union launched the Great Green Wall initiative, as part of Declaration 137 VIII. The goal was to restore Africa’s degraded landscape by planting vegetation about 10 miles wide and over 4,000 miles long in the Sahel region, at the southern edge of the Sahara desert.  The goal has since evolved to address not only degradation, but land use, peacebuilding, and climate change.
Continue Reading Africa’s Great Green Wall

On June 17, 2020 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced government’s intention to further ease the lockdown restrictions imposed due to COVID-19, allowing more industries to re-open fully under stringent health and safety protocols. This announcement comes two weeks after the government de-escalated the country from Alert Level 4 to Alert Level 3 pursuant to…

Ethiopia’s prime minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed—the youngest African leader at 42 years old—has initiated a series of unprecedented economic and political reforms in his first 12 months in office. The core challenge that he faces is moving the economy from state-led to market-based growth while overseeing far-reaching political reforms. Success is far from guaranteed but…

In the last week of February, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe announced that all privately owned diamond mines would be nationalized and taken over by the newly created state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Co. The move affected six primarily Chinese companies. This decision is in keeping with the larger nationalization plan for mines that the President announced…

Early last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) caught the attention of investors when it issued a report predicting that Mozambique’s average economic growth rate between 2021-2025 could reach as high as 24 percent per annum and liquefied natural gas projects (LNG) could reach more than 50 percent of the country’s nominal output by the…

Earlier this week, the Corporate Council on Africa’s Health Working Group hosted a World Bank presentation of The Global Financing Facility (GFF), a broad $4 billion facility that aims to promote reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) in low- and middle-income countries.  The GFF–which was announced in September 2014 and currently consists…