The annual Africa Tech Alliance Forum (AfriTECH) event has been scheduled to take place on October 13, 2021.
Formerly known as Mobile & Disruptive Technology Forum (MoDiTECH), AfriTECH2021 will hold as a hybrid event: both Virtual and Physical with strict compliance to COVID-19 protocols and promises to be bigger, better and to serve as an interesting Forum for inter-sectorial cross-fertilisation of ideas on economic impacts of COVID-19 on digital transformation and way forward for businesses.
AfriTECH2021 Central theme is: ‘Embracing Change and Digital Transformation in the New Normal’.
The Convener of Africa Tech Alliance Forum, Mr Peter Oluka, said that the forum will focus on digital transformation solutions in the post pandemic era.
Oluka, in a statement, said that the forum would also proffer solutions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which had had adverse effects on the global economy.
He said that asides from the negative health implications, the COVID-19 pandemic had led to job losses, pay cuts, travel restrictions and consequently, fall in foreign trade and general business activities.
According to him, the businesses most hit include the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as recent survey by the International Trade Centre (ITC) reveals that the pandemic has strongly affected nearly two-third of micro and small businesses.
He said that this is as compared to about 40 per cent of large companies with 20 per cent of MSMEs feared to shut down permanently at some points soon.
Oluka said that interestingly, the survey revealed that 40 per cent of the companies that came out strong from the pandemic were mainly technology driven businesses.
“Though, the pandemic has adversely affected our economic and social life, it has also created opportunities for us to look in-ward.
“At one time or another, nations and individuals confront crisis points, moments of existential challenge that also open up new possibilities.
“We believe in the technological possibilities to assist Africa recover fast from this pandemic.
“Therefore, we align with the school of thought that African countries face three possible outcomes post-pandemic: play catch-up, stand still or fall even further behind the industrialised world,” he said.
Oluka said that AfriTECH2021 offered a platform to identify and showcase technological solutions that assist organisations tackle the problems thrown up by the pandemic.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…
Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…
[ICYMI] Lekki Shootings: Why We Lied About Our Presence — General Taiwo
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the killings at Lekki Toll Gate, on Saturday resumed viewing of the 24hrs footage of the October 20, 2020 shooting of #EndSARS protesters by personnel of the Nigerian Army…
ICYMI: How We Carried Out The 1993 Nigerian Airways Hijack —Ogunderu
On Monday, October 25, 1993, in the heat of June 12 annulment agitations, four Nigerian youngsters, Richard Ajibola Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Razak-Lawal, did the unthinkable! They hijacked an Abuja-bound aircraft, the Nigerian Airways airbus A310, and diverted it to Niger Republic. How did they so it? Excerpts…
Sahabi Danladi Mahuta, a community mobiliser and APC chieftain. Mahuta spoke to select journalists at the sidelines of an Islamic conference in Abuja recently. Excerpts…