Nigeria’s Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and President Muhammadu Buhari have been named 2022 Africa ICT Champions.
This information was made public at the Award Announcement session organized by Dr. Jimson Olufuye, the organization’s first Chair and creator, which took place following the 10th Summit, which took place last week.
For generating a more than 18% ICT contribution to Nigeria’s GDP in 2022 and a 40% overall ICT value chain contribution to the Nigerian economy, the President and Vice-President of Nigeria were chosen as the winners. At the closing ceremony, Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, represented them.
In his speech as the Special Guest of Honor, HE Prof. Yemi Osinbajo thanked AfICTA for the award given to them and congratulated them on their 10th anniversary, acknowledging the enormous growths AfICTA had experienced over the previous 10 years, most notably how it went from a 6 Member Nation Alliance in 2012 (at its founding) to over 38 Nations in Africa by 2022. He also commended AfICTA for its support of the fulfilment of the digital age’s promise for every person in Africa.
Others are Mr. Sina Aiyegbusi, Head, Group Information Technology and Digital Banking GTBank as the 2022 Africa CIO Award winner; and the Nigerian Minister of Information and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ibrahim Ali (Pantami), and his Mauritius counterpart, Hon. Darsanand Balgobin. The CEO and Founder of KEMITEL Ltd in Cameroon, Mr. Eric Sindeu, received the 2022 Innovation Award. Mr. Ahmed Ismael, the CEO of the South African-based Siyafunda Community Technology Center, received the 2022 Africa Community Development Award.
While congratulating the winners, the Chairman of AfICTA, Mr. Thabo Mashegoane encouraged other participants who didn’t make it this year to keep participating in future contests.
The theme of the AfICTA 10th Anniversary Summit was “Africa Digital Future: Fostering a New Paradigm”. The summit witnessed several sessions geared towards fostering the digital agenda and the realization of the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa.
Africa Information & Communication Technologies Alliance – AfICTA is a concerned private sector led alliance of ICT Associations, Multi-national Corporations, Companies, Organisations, and individuals in the ICT sector in Africa.