In this episode we are talking about Africa, taking an active part in the world, digital economy, it’s very important to understand. Digital inclusion and actually what that means when it comes to thinking about Africa being an active producer of technological products and services, as opposed to just being a consumer.

Our guests on today’s podcast are Nicholas Sewe and Samantha Ndiwalana.

Nicholas Sewejoined WBA in March 2021. As the Engagement Manager for the Digital Inclusion Benchmark, he supports multi-stakeholder engagement, partnership building, and organizing global events.

Samantha conducts in-depth research and data analysis to support the development of the WBA’s benchmarks. She is passionate about innovative approaches to inclusive sustainable development and believes that companies cannot be excluded from the development agenda. Her focus is on “use.”

We talk about the 2020 Digital Inclusion report, which was the first report. This year they will add 15 more companies and the next report will be out in December.

The report is part of the efforts of the World Benchmarking Alliance to motivate and incentivize the work of the private sector to achieve their sustainable development goals.

Digital inclusion is tracked across four measurement areas:

• Access
• Skills
• Use
• Innovation

We talk about the challenges facing Africa and whether or not digital inclusion is possible in our lifetime. We have many challenging including the rising costs of the internet and for those who can afford it, there is the issue of whether or not they have the skills to fully utilize it.

The answer most likely is in conversations like this one but needs to include companies, governments, and policy makers if a lasting difference is going to be reached.