Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Bhebhe, in Victoria Falls
SMART Africa Director General and chief executive officer, Mr Lacina Koné has said the organization has grown in leaps a bounds in the last 10 years from a modest capital of US$600 000 to US$23 million taping in from 1.1 billion people from 37 member states.
Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the 6th edition of the Transform Africa Summit in Victoria Falls on 26 April, Mr Kone chronicled the progress made by Smart Africa from an original seven member states in 2013 to 36.
The summit also marks the 10th anniversary of Smart Africa Alliance.
He thanked President Mnangagwa for his personal sponsorship of the organisation of the Transform Africa Summit 2023 and the celebration of the ten years anniversary of the Smart Africa Alliance.
“Ten (10) years is a major milestone for an institution, as it is for an individual. Our celebration is not so much a festivity, but an august occasion to pause and look back at this ten (10) year journey. A moment to look ahead at the mountains we must still climb,” he said.
“So today we express our deepest appreciation to the founding fathers. The Smart Africa Alliance was launched during the first Transform Africa Summit in October 2013 by 7 Heads of State, with a mandate to drive Africa’s socio-economic development by leveraging the transformative power of digital transformation.
“It was a very modest beginning, with 3 staff members, and a capital of US$600,000.
“A modest but important beginning. A seed was planted 10 years ago, a seed to transform Africa into the continent we all want.
“So, as we look back as to whether we have been true and faithful to the dreams of our founding fathers, we can say with pride that we have played our part.”
Mr Kone said the 10 year journey has been marked by strong and meaningful multi-stakeholders’ collaboration and partnerships through practical projects and initiatives, with one shared vision: “Accelerating the creation of a single digital market by 2030”.
By working and collaborating together, we have grown from seven member States in 2013, into an Alliance of 36 member States representing a population of more than 1.1 billion people and we are still growing, he said.
“From three staff members with a capital of 600,000 dollars in 2013, the Secretariat of the Smart Africa Alliance has grown to more than 50 staff members and a capital of 23 million US Dollars.
“The partners of the Alliance has grown over the years from all continents. We worked and aligned interventions with more than 100 partners including development agencies and funding organizations such as BMZ/GIZ, EU, World Bank, NORAD, African Development Bank and BADEA.”
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