"Cameroon Minister urges experts to render big data profitable for Africa", 4 December 2019

“By 2030, revenues generated by big data in Africa will reach 10 billion dollars, but how much of this will stay in Africa, how many of our youths will play a leading role in the creation of this wealth as a function of their skills and to what extent will the big data economy transform our private sectors and productivity” quizzed Cameroon’s Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng...

Based on their recognized expertise, participants are tasked with reviewing an issue paper on the place and future of big data within Africa’s private sector in view of:

1. a)     Exploring the potential of big data in accelerating innovation for the socio-economic development of the continent
2. b)    Assessing the current status and challenges in the development of Big Data in Africa
3. c)     Providing policy recommendations for consideration by African policy, and decision-makers for the development of the private sector in realizing the big data opportunities for Africa’s transformation and meeting the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

While some experts insisted on revolutionary training of Africa’s youth in data science, others raised the primacy of integrating pieces of physical infrastructure for data transmission between African countries, notably by linking up optical fiber networks...On his part, Mr. Mactar Seck of the Green Economy and Technology Section within the Technology, Climate Change and Natural resources Division (TCND) of ECA highlighted the importance of the role of African private sector in big data era...