THE World Bank (WB) has earmarked 15 million US dollars (about 35bn/-) to enhance and accelerate regional digital integration efforts across the East African Community (EAC).
The project will focus on connectivity market development and integration, which entails creating an enabling legal, regulatory and ICT institutional environment to enhance digitalisation in the region.
The project scope was deliberated on in a meeting held at the World Bank offices in Washington, D.C, between the EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki and the World Bank team led by Mohammed Essakali, Manager, Africa Regional Integration and Casey Torgusson, the Global Manager, Digital Development.
During the meeting, Dr Mathuki noted that EAC was looking at establishing regional digital innovation hubs across the Partner States to respond to digital challenges.
“This support will further enhance the region’s competitiveness and skills development that are central to successful digital transformation,” he explained.
Further, the project will look into data market development with the setting up of cybersecurity frameworks, infrastructure and capacity building.
The digitalisation project will further look into enhancing mechanisms to develop cross- border electronic trade and payments and e-commerce initiatives.
The Secretary General further added that the EAC plans to implement Smart Gates at its One-Stop Border Posts, which will help to track regional trade and reduce the time taken at borders through migration processes.
The project is aligned with the EAC strategic objective and commitment towards a single digital market in the Community.
The bank through its Single Digital Market (SDM) initiative aims at supporting the region to become a more deeply integrated and dynamic digital investment, innovation and growth hub, building on the underlying strengths of the domestic digital economies and the ongoing political and economic integration processes in East Africa as well as at the continental level.
It stems from a recognition that countries in the region are too small to succeed in the digital economy in isolation.
They need the economies of scale and network effects offered by a larger regional market to help bridge the digital divide faster within their respective countries and the region in relation to the global digital economy.
An SDM could accelerate the growth of technology-enabled businesses, lower the cost of key telecom services, and catalyse new digital services for citizens and businesses alike.
An integrated East African digital market would be the ninth largest in the world, based on population, creating the ‘domestic’ market size needed to attract digital investment and provide a larger and more familiar space for local firms to grow before having to compete in global markets.
It will also provide the region with the heft to compete against digital giants on the continent such as Nigeria and ultimately to contend with the globally dominant digital hubs such as Silicon Valley, which benefit from large domestic markets in which to scale before tackling other markets.
The initiative has brought together stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia to highlight the aspirations for and benefits of creating an SDM, as well as to articulate:
