GiEPA CEO Receives Digital Economy Consultants

By Alieun Baye

A delegation from the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (MoCDE) consisting of experts from Estonia and the Ministry’s IT Team on Tuesday 18^th October 2022, visited the Gambia Investment & Export Promotion Agency (GiEPA). The new ministry is on the verge of conducting a Digital Readiness Assessment (DRA) and formulating a Digital Economy Master Plan (DEMP), which would be done through a multi-stakeholder approach. These activities are part of a technical assistance support package from the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) Digital for Development (D4D) Hub Project to the Government of The Gambia through MoCDE.

Components to the project include: Digital Readiness Assessment formulation of a National Digital Economy Master Plan; Formulation of Digital Addressing Policy and Strategy; and formulation of an Open Data Policy and Strategy, amongst other activities. The technical support package is part of a bigger initiative of the AU-EU D4D Hub project predominantly funded by the EU and supported and hosted under the tutelage of the AU. The new initiative seeks to support African Institutions to lay grounds for an inclusive sustainable digital transformation that will stair a cross pollination of African governments including The Gambia and regional organizations to better advance and strengthened digital cooperation with their European counterparts.

GIEPA CEO – Ousainou Senghore welcomed the delegation and took turns to bring to the table issues affecting the attraction of IT investments into the country and how to make the business environment more conducive for actors and stakeholders. Chief Senghore further elaborated on IT infrastructure issues as well as knowledge gaps in the industry especially cyber security and better software development for service providers and seekers. He also called for an inclusive engagement process that will effectively engage the digital ministry and GiEPA as key actors. Senghore also urged the consultants to avoid duplication in the new plan of the Ministry. An engaging discussion on how to include the majority of the local population to access and be aided in the digital process was pointed out to ensure the cultivation of more active contributions made daily by the informal sectors of the Gambian economy.