By John Odunjo
“Digital transformation through cloud services is the cornerstone of Africa’s exponential growth. We are poised to revolutionize key sectors such as agriculture, urbanization, education, infrastructure, healthcare, climate change, natural resources, art and tourism”
Technology experts have rallied for digital revolution and cloud integration to break barriers hindering Africa’s growth to ensure progression and economic prosperity across the African continent.
They stressed that Africa’s embrace of cloud technology was non-negotiable as individuals, businesses and governments must adapt, adopt cloud centric architecture, revamp educational curricula, and align with 21st-century realities.
The stakeholders and experts, who spoke at the 2023 Cloud Connect, a technological/ICT summit organised by Alluvium in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State capital.
Speaking at the event, a technology expert and the Chief Executive Officer of Alluvium, Taiwo Ojo, charged African countries to bridge the technological gap and embrace digital transformation to benefit from the multi-billion dollars remote work market.
Ojo said that remote work had the potential to create employment opportunities and unlock the potentials of the African continent.
He said that Nigeria could break into large technological market though adapting and adopting cloud-centric architecture, adding “Going into cloud has a lot of advantages including efficiency and cost-saving.
“Cloud Connect serves as a clarion call for Africa to bridge the technological gap and harness its vast potential through digital transformation and cloud adoption across various sectors. Companies, employees and government’s alike in Africa, including Nigeria would benefit immensely in view of the high youth population.
“The remote work market, we believe is $50b. What that means is that there are people who can be here in Ekiti today and working for companies around the world and earning dollars here in Ekiti,” as he harped in the need to train people for the required digital skills for the jobs”.
He said, “In Alluvium, we sponsor and support local charities and local trainers who go to secondary schools and train young people how to programme and how to have digital skills that will make them globally competitive.
“With that, we are building into the future a large pool of remote workers, a large pool of knowledge and talents and skill needed globally. We train young people with skills that are needed today and help to connect them to opportunities abroad to work. We also have a number of young people who we have connected to opportunities in companies around the world”.
Alluvium co-CEO, Mr Wale Olojo, stressed the urgency for African countries to emulate tech trailblazers like India and China, leveraging their human resources for economic growth.
Olojo urged both local and international companies “to trust and engage with startups like Alluvium, emphasizing the importance of job creation and sustainable practices.
“Our joint venture aims to steer current and future generations away from cybercrime. We aspire to harness the talents and skills within our society to innovate and confront Africa’s economic challenges head-on,” Olojo said.
An expert, Samuel Kojo Acheampong of Onpoint, said, “Digital transformation through cloud services is the cornerstone of Africa’s exponential growth. We are poised to revolutionize key sectors such as agriculture, urbanization, education, infrastructure, healthcare, climate change, natural resources, art, and tourism”.
