World Bank launches Africa Digital economy survey

by | May 28, 2021 | Business, International, Local News | 0 comments

Mako Jerera

The World Bank yesterday launched the Africa Digital Economy which seeks to understand the economic potential in the continent`s digital space.

In Zimbabwe, the study was launched at Munhumutapa government offices in Harare in which Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda and World Bank Country Manager for Zimbabwe, Ms R Mukami Kariuki were in attendance.

The diagnostic of Zimbabwe’s digital economy focuses on the current state of Zimbabwe’s digital ecosystem.

Mr Mukami Kariuki, World Bank Country Manager for Zimbabwe expressed how the World Bank Africa report comes at a critical time when the digital way of life, from keeping government and businesses functional, to providing physically distant services, has become central to daily lives, accelerated by the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This diagnostic is part of the World Bank Digital Economy for Africa (De4A) initiative which is designed to support African Union’s “digital moonshot” initiative which aims to help all African governments achieve a bold vision of having every citizen, government, and business digitally enabled by 2030. It is the first time that an assessment of this nature has been undertaken in Zimbabwe. This will allow the country to benchmark itself against other countries that have completed the assessment,” he said.

The report dovetails with the Government of Zimbabwe’s (GoZ’s) thrust of modernizing and digitizing the economy as reflected in the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), (2021-2025).