The African continent is changing with digital transformation in full swing. Several international institutions support governments in this process through projects or funding.
The World Bank, through the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), wants to invest $2.48 billion in Eastern and Southern Africa. The goal is to increase access to the Internet and the use of digital services. The information was revealed via a press release published on Thursday, June 27.
Baptisé Inclusive Digitalization in Eastern and Southern Africa (IDEA), le programme “aims to bring together 15 countries and regional economic communities and address common challenges such as limited internet coverage due to infrastructure gaps, low usage due to high data and device costs, limited digital skills and lack of digital identification needed for online transactions.”
Africa is actively participating in the technological revolution underway in the world. It has accelerated with the Covid-19 pandemic and the World Bank and its various organizations are among the international institutions that are actively supporting African countries in their digital transformation process. The IBRD has granted a loan of 56.2 million euros (60 million USD) to Gabon for the implementation of the “Gabon Digital” project. The IDA, for its part, has financed the Burkina Faso Digital Transformation Acceleration Project (PACTDIGITAL) to the tune of $150 million.
The IDEA program will benefit more than 180 million people by 2032 and will be implemented in several phases. Due to a broadband internet access rate of less than 50%, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi will participate in the first phase of the project which will impact more than 50 million people.
Adonis Conrad Quenus
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Burkina Faso seeks MPs’ agreement to borrow $150 million from IDA for a digital project
Gabon validates an international loan of €56.2 million for digital technology
