The IT forum brought together Russian and African officials, heads of related government structures, leaders of big IT corporations, as well as heads of higher education institutions. It was held under the theme "Russia-Africa: digital technologies as a driver of state development and international cooperation."
On the sidelines of the event, Sputnik sat down with some of the participants to discuss the process of digitalization in Africa and the prospects of Russia-Africa cooperation in this field.
In recent years, the problem of achieving "digital sovereignty" has become a major concern for many nations across Africa, and Russia could become an important partner of the continent on this path, said Solomon Soka, director-general of Information Network Security Administration, Ethiopia, in an interview with Sputnik.
According to Soka, in the current era of digital pervasiveness, there is a large digital divide between developed and developing nations, while the sovereignty of the latter is "compromised because of digital technologies." Therefore, to assure digital sovereignty, countries all over the world should collaborate and cooperate together to have a common framework that will assure "the interdependence, sovereignty and equality of nations."
He in particular praised the Russian strategy towards technology development, dubbing it as "an accelerated approach to digital transformation." The Ethiopian official underlined that the expanding ties with Russia in the field of digital technology and transfer imply that the continent will be able to bridge this digital gap and gain digital sovereignty.
"Sharing the experience of Russia gives hope to developing states that most of the African countries will have strategies for digital transformation. So it gives hope that they will come up to speed and start from the end, from the state-of-the-art technology, instead of building a longer way with old technologies," he stated.
The same viewpoint was shared by Darlington Chokore Damba, director for tertiary education programs under the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development in Zimbabwe. Damba, for his part, also mentioned the state-of-the-art technology presented in Russia, saying that the country has "pervaded technologies into most spheres of its socioeconomic industries."
In this regard, African nations are learning a lot from the Russian experience, and Zimbabwe in particular is planning to introduce these technologies into its institutions, including colleges and universities, industries and municipalities.
He noted that cooperation between Russia and Zimbabwe is very strong and dates back to the liberation struggle of the African nation in the early sixties.
"Were it not for the Russian Federation, Zimbabwe wouldn't be talking of this political independence that we are cherishing today. So it dates back to the early sixties, where our principles, our national leaders were trained here in Russia during the liberation struggle," he recalled.
Damba stated that there's a lot of technology transfer and knowledge transfer that go through the countries' institution partnerships. In particular, he noted that the countries have recently agreed to establish a center at one of universities in Zimbabwe to learn the Russian language. He underlined that in order to learn from Russia, as a country with very strong engineering technology, it is necessary first and foremost to appreciate the country's language and culture.