NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 28 – Kenya has won the bid to host the 2024 Transform Africa Summit (TAS) convened by the Smart Africa Alliance, a Pan-African agency for ICTs.
The announcement of Kenya’s win was made yesterday evening by Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Barcelona, Spain, on the sidelines of the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC-24).
While accepting the win, Eliud Owalo, the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, said the achievement was stamp of confidence in Kenya’s unrivaled leadership in the ICT landscape.
‘‘This win is testament to the confidence that the Smart Africa Alliance has on Kenya as an ICT powerhouse, and a leader in championing the region’s efforts to leverage the power of ICTs for socio-economic development,’’ said Mr. Owalo.
He said Kenya accepts the outcome with a great sense of humility and was now embarking on the preparations for delivering a world class event later in the year.
‘We accept this win with utmost humility and joy, as it marks the beginning of a great journey ahead that will culminate in the hosting of the event in August this year,’’ added Owalo.
He acknowledged the efforts of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) chaired by Edward Kisiang’ani, the Principal Secretary for Broadcasting and Telecommunications, and the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) for their tireless dedication and commitment in delivery a winning bid for Kenya.
CA Board Chairperson Mary Mungai said hosting the event would give the Authority an opportunity to shape conversations on sustainable digital economy on the continent.
‘‘Hosting this event provides us with a front row experience on the future of digital
transformation efforts on the continent, and how we must work across borders to forge a sustainable digital economy in the region,’’ she observed.
This is the first time the event will be held in Kenya in the 10 year history of the Smart Africa Alliance, an opportunity that the CA Director General David Mugonyi says the Authority will leverage to interact and share best practices with peers from the region to address emerging challenges in the dynamic ICT environment.
‘‘Hosting our peers from the region provides us with an opportunity to share experiences and best practices, and most importantly, forge a common and united front in leveraging ICTs for the development of our economies,’’ said Mugonyi.
The Transform Africa Summit is held annually by the Smart Africa Alliance as the continent’s leading forum bringing together global and regional leaders from government, business and international organizations to collaborate on new ways of shaping, accelerating and sustaining Africa’s on-going digital revolution.
The TAS brings together over 5,000 delegates from Africa and the world to shape the future of Africa’s digital transformation.
