Digital Transformation in South Africa: Achievements and Future Prospects
Highlighting the positive strides in South Africa's digital transformation journey, including the accelerated rollout of 5G networks, the SA Connect program to bridge the digital divide, and the SITA E-Government cloud platform. The narrative reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on the digital economy and emphasizes the importance of connectivity and computing in driving economic development.
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Sanibonani Ninjani His Excellency, The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa: Mr David Mabuza; Honorable Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Ms Nomusa-Dube Ncube, Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies: Ms Khumbudzo Ntshavheni Honourable Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies: Mr Philly Mapulane; Honourable Deputy Minister of Basic Education: Dr Regina Mhaule; Chairperson of the SITA Board of Directors: Ms Makano Mosidi Honourable Leaders from the governments of our neighbouring countries Industry leaders, Ladies and Gentlemen, with all protocol observed Good Morning! Huawei Confidential 1
Its such great to be back physically after 2019s Govtech! 2019, what a special year, the world changed since then! This reminds me of His Excellency David Mabuza s visit to Huawei, during his official visit to China in the same year. Due to some well-known external challenges faced by Huawei at the time, His Excellency encouraged us to keep strong and resilient, citing a Chinese proverb, the tallest tree always experiences the strongest winds. I would like to report to His Excellency that we did keep strong and resilient, by creating shared value for customers and partners. But since then, the world has changed dramatically because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so I would like to share your encouragement with everyone. Let s all keep strong and resilient. During the pandemic and in its wake, the digital transformation of industries has become the new engine of economic development. To this end, many countries have accelerated digital transformation, to drive the digital economy and social resilience. So much so that, by the end of 2022, we expect the digital economy will account for more than 50% of global GDP. In Huawei's view, connectivity and computing are the cornerstones of the digital economy. Connection density, multiplied by computing power, equals the strength of the digital economy. Huawei Confidential 2
At this point, South Africa is doing great. As an industry player, we would like to thanks to our leadership, Honorable Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and her department for their continued efforts in promoting the development of the digital economy. There are few milestones I would like to mention: 1. The successful distribution of spectrum, which greatly accelerated 5G rollout. At present, Huawei has assisted our South Africa Telco partners to deploy the largest 5G networks in Africa. The recent draft Next Generation Spectrum Policy proposes sunset of 2G and 3G networks with the aim of availing more spectrum to support deployments of 5G and beyond. From this, I trust South Africa will continue to lead. 2. We would like to applaud for Honorable Minister s Broadband Connectivity drive programme SA Connect, which is to ensure that all South Africans have access to the internet by 2024. According to the SA-connect deployment plan, more than 40,000 public facilities like government institutions, schools, hospitals, community centers will be connected. We trust this connecting the unconnected initiative will further bridging the digital divide. 3. We would also glad to see the SITA E-Government cloud has become the most important digital platform for the South African government, bringing convenient, efficient and secure services to more departments and provincial governments. All of these are substantial developments for the country s digital transformation, which is and will further promote the development of the digital economy. Huawei Confidential 3
As we grow this sector and the digital economy, allow me to quote an African proverb this time: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. This is our guiding value in that beyond infrastructure, ecosystem is important. We understand that getting to a digital and fully inclusive economy will require extensive investment in innovation and digital skills as well as partnerships between state players, enterprises, SMMEs. Huawei and our partners have walked a long road together, we want to help South African companies build South African capacity. Not just scale companies, but also startup SMMEs. We forge local innovation through initiatives like our Open Lab, Joint Innovation Center, and so on. 1. To further support startup SMMEs, we recently announced Huawei Spark Programme in Huawei Eco- connect 2022, that Huawei Cloud will invest 100 million Rand, hope to enable 1000 local SMEs and start- ups to develop their capabilities. SMMEs who adopt a digital first approach to business will be the important growth driver in this new economic era. 2. On the skills development side, Huawei partners with government, industry and academia to ensure we create and retain ICT talent within the economy. At the launch of our LEAP Programme earlier this year, together with the Honorable Minister, our Regional President Mr. Leo Chen re-stated our aim to help advance the ICT skills of more than 100,000 people across the Sub-Saharan Africa region within three years. In South Africa, this program covers universities and TVET students studying ICT and people already working in the sector. 8 000 South Africans benefited last year in the latest technologies like 5G, Cloud, AI and Big Data. Huawei Confidential 4
3. And to ensure our commitment to digital literacy, reducing education inequality, we have work with our local partners to launch Digischool project under Huawei global TECH4ALL initiative in South Africa. The project aims to connect 100 rural schools and benefit 50,000 students. These are some of our efforts to use technology to advance and improve our life experiences. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe that the hosting of GovTech 2022, after the previous two were cancelled, is symbolic of a new dawn. And it gives me immense pride to be able to play a small part in ushering in that new dawn. I would like to thank the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and SITA for hosting the Gov-tech conference, which provided us with a stage to discuss the development and application of digital technologies. So I started with the encouragement that we should keep strong and resilient, and if you are sitting here today, that is what you have done for the past 2 years, so now it is time to spread our wings and soar. At last, I want to wish GovTech 2022 a resounding success! Thank you! Huawei Confidential 5
