Invest in digital infrastructure for dev’t - experts tell ECOWAS member states 

Stakeholders and experts at a forum on digitalization and e-governance have called on member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to invest massively in digital infrastructures as a catalyst for sustainable development in the region.

The stakeholders emphasised the significance of digitalization in areas of socio -economic activities such as governance, commerce , health, education and agriculture

The forum, facilitated by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and held in Gambia, provided a platform for experts from ECOWAS member countries to analyse the findings of the UN 2024 e-government survey on West Africa.

It was also meant for the experts and stakeholders to discuss the achievements and the improvements needed in ECOWAS countries on e-governance, as well as good practices in data sharing and effective data governance. 

Digital strategy 

The ECOWAS Commission also used the event to highlight the community’s new digital sector development strategy which seeks to guide the regional block action on digitliization from 2024 to 2029.

As part of the strategy , ECOWAS seeks to “position ICT as an engine for economic growth and inclusion, by pursuing the efforts to build a single digital market for sustainable and shared prosperity in the ECOWAS region.

Speaking at the forum, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitilisation , Sediko Douka, said digitilisation was crucial for sustainable socio -economic development, and therefore urged member states of ECOWAS to step up efforts to advance digitilisation.

“Digitilisation is one of the cross- cutting issues identified by ECOWAS Vision 2050, and one in which ECOWAS is steeping up its efforts to strengthen all socio-economic activities, such as e-commerce, e-government , e-health, e-agriculture and e-education,” he added 

He stressed the need for member states and all payers in the digital ecosystem to cooperate and coordinate their activities for effective implementation essential digital infrastructures