Dakar, Oct 1 (APS) – The Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital signed a memorandum of understanding with the American internet giant, Google, for the creation of a sovereign cloud, “a first” in West Africa.
“This infrastructure will allow Senegal to ensure the protection of sensitive data while meeting the growing needs of Senegalese and African administrations and businesses,” indicates a press release from the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital Affairs sent to the APS.
The memorandum of understanding was signed during the working visit that the Head of State, Bassirou Diomaye Dikhar Faye, paid on Friday, on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (from 21 to September 28), in Silicon Valley, as part of the implementation of Senegal’s new digital strategy: “the New Technological Deal”.
”The visit is part of a process of monitoring and seeking strategic, technical and financial partnerships in the process of accelerating the digital revolution in Senegal,” indicates the same source.
On this occasion, the President of the Republic and the Minister of Communication, in the company of the local private sector, visited the headquarters of NVIDIA, world leader in artificial intelligence, where the Minister presented the projects for the creation of a supercomputer with a sub-regional vocation.
Thus, ”thanks to a series of meetings with world leaders such as Google, META, NVIDIA, and 500 Global, Senegal is laying the foundations for technological sovereignty and an efficient digital economy through universal connectivity and a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem”.
This new strategy aims to “strengthen skills, democratize access to the Internet and basic public services in order to initiate an inclusive, ambitious and resilient digital transformation”.
During the 79th United Nations Summit, the President of the Republic reaffirmed “the need to constitutionalize the right of every citizen to access the Internet”.
To this end, ”a memorandum of understanding was signed with Google to support skills development programs in the Cloud, AI and Cyber security,” informs the ministry.
The press release notes that “at the same time, discussions with META and NVIDIA focused on the use of open-source AI to accelerate the digitalization of public administration and expand the pool of artificial intelligence talent.”
In order to accelerate the growth of startups and SMEs, “a memorandum of understanding was signed with Google, with the aim of providing access to AI tools and Google solutions (Cloud, Cybersecurity, Workspace, etc.) .)”.
According to the press release, this initiative aims to ”provide businesses with the resources necessary to innovate, grow and contribute to the country’s digital economy.”
He also specified that the Senegalese delegation held “a productive working session with 500 Global, a leading venture capital fund, to explore financing opportunities for startups”.
In this regard, ”a round table at ARM headquarters brought together venture capital funds such as AURION Capital and LG Capital, as well as the United States Department of Commerce, to promote and consolidate economic and financial partnerships enabling the technological ecosystem to contribute to meeting Africa’s major challenges.
Through this approach, Senegal’s ambition is to become, within the ECOWAS market, “a hub of innovation and excellence, creating unique opportunities for the next generation of engineers and experts in the digital field”, according to the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital.
MK/OID
