Honourable Mrs Savannah Maziya, Minister of Information, Communications and Technology of the Kingdom of Eswatini;
Senior Government Ministers;
Honourable Members of Parliament;
Senior Government Officials;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Heads of Science and Academic Institutions;
Let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to Minister Maziya for the invitation to address this important occasion. I also wish to the Government of Eswatini for the warm welcome extended to me and my delegation since our arrival in your beautiful country.
Your invitation to speak at this important occasion is especially timely, coming just one month before we launch a major expansion of our country’s Science Engagement Strategy. On 4 July this year, we will launch the first edition of our new National Science Month.
This initiative marks a significant step up from our traditional National Science Week and is intended to inspire young people to pursue careers in science while deepening public appreciation of the everyday value of science.
As we have done in the past and if practical, we would be honoured to welcome some of your senior officials to this launch. In line with the topic, I have been asked to address, I would like to reflect on several issues that are particularly relevant to an occasion of this nature.
The first issue I wish to reflect on is Science for Sustainable Development and Science, Technology and Innovation cooperation.As governments in the SADC region, we need to continually find ways of giving practical expression to the SADC Protocol on Science, Technology and Innovation and of course, the AU’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2034).
This means we must consistently work at strengthening science, technology and innovation corporation. In practice, this means jointly developing evidence-based responses to some of the most urgent challenges facing our region such as health crises, climate change and water scarcity, energy security, economic and infrastructure hurdles; governance and corruption, political instability and security; humanitarian crises and migration and its attended challenges.
To achieve this, the governments in our region must among others deliberately develop the foundational capabilities needed for the digital economy. These include strong legislative and institutional frameworks, as well as research and development capacity that enables the continent to produce its own technological products and solutions.
It is also important to caution that, our efforts to achieve digital transformation in SADC, must be anchored in what we describe as a sovereign research and development agenda for Africa. By this, we mean a research and development agenda that is designed, funded and driven by African countries themselves.
This is not a rejection of international partnerships with other regions of the world. Rather, it is an affirmation of the importance of equity, mutual respect and African agency in our engagement with global partners.
The first in the impact of digitalisation on society.
Secondly and related the main theme of this occasion, we are living in an era in which digitalisation, automation and transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence are reshaping economies and societies in ways that would have been difficult to imagine just 50 years ago.
Similarly, the rise of the digital age has not automatically produced greater economic equity. In some cases, it has deepened historical inequalities, giving rise to what is often described as the digital divide, or even digital apartheid.
For instance, the United Nations estimates that “Nearly 2.7 billion people globally still lack access to the internet, risking social and economic exclusion.”
SADC countries and the rest of Africa must develop the necessary policy and institutional tools needed to respond effectively and sustainably to rapid digitalisation. This urgency is underscored by recent projections from global institutions such as the World Economic Forum:
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“The global digital economy is projected to reach approximately $28 trillion, growing at an annual rate of around 9.5%, faster than the broader global economy.”
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“In Africa alone, the digital payments economy is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.”; and
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“Africa’s digital economy is projected to contribute more than $700 billion to the continent’s GDP by 2050.”
Given these and other implications, SADC and the continent as a whole should view digital transformation as a means to among others, accelerate the development of critical skills and future-focused education, boost regional economic cooperation and built an inclusive digital economy.
Thirdly, as a country, we have identified the digital economy as a critical enabler of both scientific advancement and industrialisation. To this end, we have introduced a number of policy and institutional measures. Led by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), our government has developed the ICT and Digital Economy Master Plan.
This Plan seeks to accelerate South Africa’s digital transformation, strengthen economic resilience, expand inclusive opportunity, and improve quality of life through:
- Digital infrastructure that supports universal and affordable access to high-quality connectivity;
- A pipeline of digital and foundational skills aligned with market needs;
- Ethical and accountable data and AI governance that protects rights and promotes public value; and
- Economic development.
To strengthen governance, our country has also adopted a Roadmap for the Digital Transformation of the South African Government. This roadmap seeks to consolidate previously fragmented digital initiatives into a coherent whole-of-government vision.
It further aims to modernise public service delivery by leveraging technology and new methods to improve efficiency, accessibility and the quality of services. Additionally, our National School of Government has introduced online courses for civil servants. These include:
- AI Fluency, which equips public servants to use AI tools effectively, ethically and strategically, including understanding their limitations and integrating them responsibly into workflows; and
- Introduction to Cybersecurity, which provides foundational knowledge to protect personal digital environments and understand the major cyber risks facing governments, companies and educational institutions.
Our government also recognises the importance of strengthening the legislative framework for artificial intelligence, an area that remains largely unregulated and we are actively developing a national AI policy to promote responsible AI development and address emerging risks.
Fourthly, our Department of Science, Technology and Innovation supports our country’s Digital Master Plan through among others, our Foundational Digital Capabilities Research Platform (FDCR), which includes research programmes focused on technical domains such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, edge-to-cloud computing and blockchain.
Complementary to this is our FDCR Human Sciences research programme, whose objective is to build research capacity to critically examine the socio-economic dimensions of digitalisation, with a particular focus on inequality, in order to inform political and societal responses that advance a more equitable and inclusive digital economy.
In conclusion, the fundamental task that lies before us as public policy makers and other social partners is to answer the question: how best can we use science, technology and innovation to transform the economic trajectory of our region and continent, in a fundamental way, over the next 10 to 20 years?
We regard the Kingdom of Eswatini as an important partner in fulfilling this task and wish to reaffirm our commitment to continue working with Eswatini’s Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology in building a sovereign and robust regional science, technology and innovation ecosystem.
Thank you.
