STORY: Kenyan president calls for harmonization of ICT policies across Africa
SHOOTING TIME: April 22, 2024
DATELINE: April 23, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:11
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Connected Africa Summit 2024
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenyan President
3. various of the Connected Africa Summit 2024
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenyan President
5. various of the Connected Africa Summit 2024
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): HENRIETTE GEIGER, EU ambassador to Kenya
7. various of the Connected Africa Summit 2024

STORYLINE:

Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday called for the harmonization of information and communication technology (ICT) policies across Africa in order to spur digital transformation.
   
Ruto said that the collaboration should be governed by a network of ICT authorities and overseen by the integration of digital transformation initiatives.
   
"This collaborative spirit is what we need to transform Africa into a digitally empowered and economically thriving continent," Ruto said during the opening ceremony of the Connected Africa Summit 2024, which kicked off in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenyan President
"The primary ambition of this summit is that with true determined collaboration and innovation, we will lay a sustained foundation of connectivity and empower the people of Africa to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the AU Agenda 2063."
   
The forum is being held under the theme "Shaping the Future of a Connected Africa: Unlocking Growth Beyond Connectivity."

The five-day event brings together ICT ministers and regulators from 35 African countries, as well as officials from the European Union.
   
Ruto said that harmonizing digital policies across the continent will help fast-track Africa's ambition to position itself as the foremost global trade powerhouse, especially with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenyan President
"Higher digital inclusion will intensify job creation and will help us deal with the challenge of poverty. Beyond infrastructure, a thriving digital economy requires the presence of a sizable and highly skilled digital workforce to pick on advances in digital technology and to drive innovation and productivity, thereby creating a dynamic ecosystem which ushers enterprises into the digital economy and enables them to scale up successfully."
   
He noted that closing the digital divide is a priority in enhancing internet connectivity, expanding the contribution of the ICT sector to Africa's gross domestic product (GDP), and driving overall growth.
   
The Kenyan leader noted that Africa's digital economy has immense potential and is projected to reach 712 billion U.S. dollars by 2050.
   
Henriette Geiger, the EU ambassador to Kenya, said that 10 percent of the economic bloc's financing for Africa is currently being used in the development of the digital economy.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): HENRIETTE GEIGER, EU ambassador to Kenya
"We have committed these funds with the objective of closing the digital divide, developing and deploying digital networks and infrastructure, but also very importantly working on digital skills."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)