All is set for the Friday event where the Consul General of the Chinese Consulate in Nigeria, Mr. Chu Maoming will declare open the Afri-China Media conference on the digital economy.
The 2022 Africa China Economic Partnership Agenda Conference (ACEPAC) will hold at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) lecture theatre on Friday, September 30.
The ACEPAC being co-hosted by the NIIA and the elite Renmin University of China, Beijing will focus on ‘Partnering China to Build Africa’s Digital Economy.’
The summit organised by the Afri-China Media Centre, publisher of Africa China Economy Magazine will feature five experts from Nigeria and China presenting papers on a broad range of issues related to this theme.
The Director General of the NIIA, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae will be the chairman of the occasion and deliver special remarks.
Also expected are many players in the sector from China whose businesses help power the growth of the digital economy in Nigeria and Africa. They include StarTimes, the digital TV company that championed the migration of African TV services to the digital platform. StarTimes facilitated that in so many countries, including Nigeria.
Also, Tecno, the Chinese smartphone giant whose affordable and quality brands have supported more than any other, access to smartphones in Africa, will also attend and deliver a paper.
From China, the International Department of China’s ruling CPC will be part of the event to weigh in on those policies of China that lifted its digital economy market to the world’s largest worth over $1 trillion.
While Dr. Efem Ubi, Director of Research of the NIIA will present a paper, communication engineer, Mr. Misty Uba will also be another resource person from the Nigerian side.
From the Chinese partner, Renmin University, Profs Zhong Xin, He Wenping and Yan Yan, all reputed international scholars would also enrich the intellectual pool and harvest.
Participants are expected to join from various cities in Nigeria and China.
Executive Director of Afri-China Media, Ikenna Emewu described the conference as a landmark that would signal the deepening of the Nigerian digital economy sector.
Emewu said the effort would complement Nigeria’s Digital Economy Policy of 2019 and help chart a course for the country in this all-important sector that has revolutionised the global economy.
The journalist noted that Nigeria and Africa cannot afford to lag behind in adopting their economies to the digital possibilities that have been revolitionising the way the world operates and would always do.
He said that digitization has taken over the world in all aspects and way back in Africa, Nigerian young start-up ICT hotheads have led the way in the continent.
“In Africa, Nigeria has almost half of all young people who have made commendable marks in the digital rave and they have been doing so great. This summit would challenge Nigeria and Africa to do more in this aspect. We have been merely consumers of the products of this sector and hardly manufacturers and we need to takle steps to change the narrative.
“That is why we need China’s partnership because China knows the way in all aspects. They first rolled out the 5G telephone technology. They are into big data, cloud computing, manufacture of hardware, fibreoptic cable laying, arificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), and general interconnectivity with the world, including Africa.
“It is China that made smartphones, a core component of the digital economy hardware, affordable in Africa where over 84 percent of the digital economy access through the internet is by mobile gadgets.
That is why we have Chinese experts and operators in the sector to discuss with and share ideas and we hope this conference would lay the foundation for growth in the sector.
“We have also invited the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to participate and possibly share ideas on what Nigeria is doing policywise.”
