This year brought in a huge accomplishment to all of us at AfICTA - Africa ICT Alliance and we want to acknowledge it was a result of your unwavering support and cooperation with us.

Thank you for always being there for us as partners and members. May this season be full of light and laughter for you and your family and may the year 2023 witness the fulfillment of your dreams. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2023

Cheers!

Opening Speech Delivered by the Chair AfICTA, Mr. Thabo Mashegoane @ the 10th AfICTA Summit

Protocol

In light of AfICTA's 10th Anniversary, I would like to welcome you all to the 10th AfICTA Summit. AfICTA - Africa ICT Alliance's dedication is to ensure that the digital promise is fulfilled to all, that is at the heart of our motto and it's at the heart of our vision, and we are 10 years into this particular vision and we need to emphasize the speed is only possible through intimate and mutual collaboration between multiple stakeholders, which is basically ourselves and you at large. The past 10 years have been a shaping year. This was a small child that is being brought into this space, and we highly appreciate the new sharing support and participation of all stakeholders in AfICTA programs of action in making sure that we actually move forward towards our vision of bringing a digital promise to all.

The next 10 Years and Beyond, are going to be very critical in that they will be about fostering the new paradigm and localizing interventions closer to the core of not only filling our mission but also addressing the imperative Sustainability Development Goals - SDGs of 2030 for all African nations. The next 10 years is the Decade of not only awakening this lion called Africa at making it roar, but it will also be accomplished by the creation of focused localized Afrocentric technology, content, and product. Development of our people on the digital front both skills and otherwise, whether people are young or old, whether they are women or men, and also to create opportunities for productive and gainful employment.

I would like to extend AfICTA’s hand of partnership to all well-meaning and purposeful organizations to come to join AfICTA in its efforts towards ensuring everyone in Africa enjoys the dividend of the digital age.

One of the challenges of the 21st century is in building an equitable digital economy that not only competes globally but also empowers citizens with the necessary digital tools to do business in this new digital age. In the case of Africa, many countries have fallen behind in key areas such as digital infrastructure and digital skills with many lacking the necessary resources to effectively develop and implement the right digital policies and law reforms that are needed not only to protect our digital borders and core digital infrastructure, but to also protect government, business, and citizens from cyber abuse and data theft.

Whilst there is no one-fit solution, there is an ever-increasing need for cross-border collaboration and a collective as well as an indigenous approach to solving these digital challenges, whilst speeding up the process of digital enablement and fostering a new era of shared skills and knowledge.

AfICTA's 10th Summit seeks to understand this challenge and takes a look at the different approaches countries are taking in order to digitalize their economies. The idea of an indigenous digital revolution is explored; can Africa find its own solutions or will it remain dependent on the importation of foreign expertise and intellectual property? Can Africa unlock its true digital potential and grow its digital capacity through smart investment and cross-border collaboration, or will Africa remain locked in as a consumer of foreign digital solutions and services?

In conclusion, I would like to assure attendees of value for their time as the list of panelists on the schedule promises to bring in the best perspectives and solution to difficult questions as our list of panelist are from all the stakeholder groups including (business, government, civil society, academia, and technical community) and they would present their views and provide practical examples of how digital tools drive digitalization and economic prosperity.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you.

Sponsored Keynote Speech Delivered by Mr. Tony Parry, the CEO IITPSA-Institute of IT Professionals South Africa at the 10th AfICTA Summit

Protocols

This time, 3 years ago. No one could really afford seen the disruption that lay ahead for countries and economies around the world, including those on the continent of Africa, for many the Covid Pandemic caused losses and Particular hardship, but yeah, we are still standing and forging ahead into a new world of working business. We know that AfICTA celebrates its tenth Anniversary this year, and as an early supporting member of the Alliance, IITPSA offers our sincere congratulations and best wishes for its continued growth and impact going forward.

As a recognized South African ICT professional body celebrating our own 65th anniversary of existence this year, IITPSA believes, resilience and adaptability are the key characteristics of the ICT sector in whichever geography we may be. In this spirits of the Theme of the summit "Fostering a New Paradigm", it is imperative that Organizations adapt, grow and often change repeatedly to align with changes in the environment. Our own institute IITPSA was born as the Computer Society of South Africa, Or CSSA, 65 years ago, and we rebranded ourselves as the Institute of Information Technology Professionals, South Africa in April, 2013, placing more emphasis on our focus on leading ICT Professionalism and digital transmission.

Back in 1957 when the then Computer Society of South America was founded, Fortran was brand new, Cobalt was only introduced 2 years later and the first computer chip was a work in progress. It's unlikely that our only members could have foreseen the computing innovations that would follow and how they would change the world. The ITPSA was there at the dawn of PC and Internet revolutions in the early 1980s, when the first IBM Personal Computer emerged. Arpanet and the defense data network changed to the TCP IP Standard, and Microsoft released its first version of Windows. Our members witnessed the birth of the first Web-browser, the granting of the top data address to South Africa, and the First Internet Connection to the Country, the Magnificent 9.6kb per second link in the early 1990s, we've seen the arrival of Email, the launches of GSM, that's the Global System for Mobile Communication, the first mobile phones and the landing of undersea Cables on the continent.

Over the years we have stepped up our skills development and Professional Development Initiatives, launching in the late 1990s, the South African Computing, Olympiads and later the Talent Search for Learners and Students originally as Projects of the Institute We have more recently incorporated them as part of our mainstream activities. Additionally, IITPSA has been initiating new Special Interest Groups and events, conducting dozens of Webinars, online discussions, and partnering with leading Industry Conferences where our Members Could Network and Enhance their knowledge.

As organizations take professional ethics more seriously, which can only be for the benefit of both our profession, our country, and indeed the continent, the IITPSA has launched our own new code of ethics, this new code aligns with the changing times and the industry standard set by the International Federation for Information Processing and the American Association of Computing, Machinery, ACM. No Man or Woman is an island unto himself or herself, and neither is an Organization. The IITPSA believes it is how we position ourselves in our community, our economy, and the broadest societal context, that will make the difference. This is extremely pertinent also in respect of our membership, support and involvement with AfICTA, and that we, in other words, all the members collectively addressed upgrading ICT needs on the Continent of Africa.

As this summit meets over the rest of today, and tomorrow and focuses on the theme of "Fostering, a New Paradigm in the African digital Future, IITPSA wishes all speakers and participants an impactful, productive and fruitful 2 days. With our desire to see a special focus on how we grow enhance and address the digital literacy and digital skills needs of our individual countries and the African continent as a whole, as relevant digital skills development is very close to our own hearts. Best wishes for the rest of the Summit, and thank you for your attention.

SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE 10TH SUMMIT OF AfICTA - AFRICA ICT ALLIANCE ON 8TH OF DECEMBER, 2022

PROTOCOLS

I would like to congratulate all the stakeholders that are with you and the participants in this historic annual event of the Africa ICT Alliance AfICTA and also thank you for the honour of the awards presented to the Presidency and the kind invitation to be the special guest of honour at this 10th edition of your annual Summit.

The list of achievements of AfICTA in the past 10 years and the impact that your team has made so far are important indicators that a vision that is well articulated must surely come to pass. Most importantly seeing how AfICTA has grown from just 6 African Nations (Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, The Gambia, Kenya, and Tunisia) when it started, to over 38 Nations in the last decade is an assurance that as Africans we can certainly get things done when and while we unite and put our hearts to it.

I want to heartily congratulate all of you and particularly congratulate our own Dr. Jimson Olufuye, the CEO of Kontemporary Konsulting, who is also the Founder, First Chair, and Current Chair of the Advisory Council of AfICTA for the leadership provided for this alliance and the role played in ensuring that the realization of AfICTA’s vision which is “…to fulfill the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa”, is fast-tracked.

It is heartwarming to note the outcome of your first-of-its-kind research, sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, titled "Connecting Cyber Security to Development in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, this is something that is clearly unprecedented and I am told that the Report indicated that a 10 percent increase in cyber security majority in any African country produces between 0.66% and 5.4% increase in GDP per capita. Likewise, I am told according to a report that a 10% increase in Internet penetration produces between 1 and 8.2% increase in GDP per capita. Now, these are very important and significant findings that the research that you have conducted has brought to us. Now looking at the Nigerian data it is indeed worthy to note that with commendable growth in our ICT Sector and the effort that is being put in by President Buhari's administration aiming for the transformation of Nigeria economically, we can see that Nigeria's economic performance remains in positive territory and clearly there is a positive trajectory.

The successful management of the COVID-19 challenges has also enabled us as a Government to recover quite quickly from the recession that was occasioned by the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020. This is why we, therefore, welcome the research effort led by Dr. Jimson Olufuye and we also commend the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa for their Work on Strengthening Africa's cyber security in our common fight, against cybercrime.

Today as we celebrate, we also must commend all of the partners of AfICTA (African Union, UNECA, ITIDA, ICANN-BC, IGF, NITDA, Galaxy Backbone, NCC, ICC-BASIS…) for the established collaboration, and encourage other purposeful organizations to align with AfICTA which is a private sector led ICT organization. It is important, to stress at this point that as we have always said “the Role of the Private sector, and individuals in the transformation of any sector of the economy cannot be overemphasized”. This is why we commend the efforts of your alliance.

Let me also appreciate Engr. Hossam Elgamal the former Chair for his vibrancy, unique efforts, and initiatives introduced to enforcing the vision of this alliance. Also important to mention is the current Chairman of AfICTA, Mr. Thabo Mashegoane, the Former President of the Institute of IT Professionals of South Africa - IITPSA, and his entire cabinet for running with the vision and keeping the flag of this alliance flying. Kudos to you and good job indeed.

To all the Stakeholders of AfICTA (the time would not permit me to mention you all) let me say congratulations to you for your inventions your time, your response, and your Intellect in the vision which is important to elevating the African continent the pedestal of unprecedented success, economic prosperity which we all believe is imminent.

In addition, I also appreciate and recognize all the resource persons that have spoken to commemorate the 10th Anniversary and I believe that the outcome of this event would not only chart a pathway for AfICTA in the next 10 years but also positively impact the continent in major fronts such as economic vibrancy, prosperity, the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs and Africa Union 2030 Digital Agenda.

Taking into consideration some of the challenges that Nigeria encountered right from the days of the COVID-19 Pandemic, which led to an economic lockdown and the global increasing inflation rate joined with the current Ukrainian war, it could have only been a great determination that brought about the 6 Fintech Unicorns emergence. Tackling recession twice during the administration was another situation that Nigeria had to face. Irrespective of all the odds, it is the vision of the administration to achieve 100% broadband coverage in Nigeria by 2021, and working with the vibrant Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami has generated a lot of positive energy in the digital sector within the years.

As I conclude, Let me also appreciate everyone’s commitment to the vision of the alliance and as well encourage us to keep at what we do because that would eventually translate to a future with bigger accomplishment which isn’t limited to the Alliance, but also the entire continent’s promotion, prosperity, and welfare. On behalf of the Buhari-led administration, we thank you for the recognition and the honour done to us. Thank you so much!