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| People walk past a sign board of Huawei at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Asia 2018 in Shanghai, China June 14, |
Technology offers the best opportunity for Africa’s advancement, and African countries have the right to choose which countries and companies they partner with in charting the technological development of their people.
This was one of the messages emerging from a webinar hosted by the University of Johannesburg on Tuesday titled, “Gearing Africa for the 4th Industrial Revolution: Patterns, Prospects and Lessons.”
The event saw stakeholders from business, academia, civil society and the media share insights on the continent’s future, and the role of technology in achieving its developmental aims.
The onset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) presents enormous opportunities for African development. However, it comes against the backdrop of a trade war between China and the United States, with especially the latter seeking to influence the tech choices of its trading partners.
Noting the advantages that the 4IR offers for Africa’s development – such as precision agriculture and bridging the digital divide – speaker and event chair Dr David Monyae, Executive Director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies, noted that the continent’s infrastructure limited its ability to embrace 4IR.
“To surmount this dearth,” he said, “the continent needs to learn from the lessons of more advanced countries, and identify partnerships that might be to its advantage.”
Dr Monyae said this would be a trying task.
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