The Minister of Finance Seedy Keita this week received praises and an award for being the first regional finance minister to champion the work of the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) which works with African finance and budget ministries in developing and implementing reforms that lead to more functional public financial management systems. The body co-hosted an International Conference on Public Finance in the Digital Era in Johannesburg, South Africa from 19 -20 November.
The two-day conference presented an opportunity for finance, digital, and development leaders to share their experience and views on using digital tools to improve financial management and service delivery. The Gambia was represented by a team led by Finance Minister Keita who made an inspiring presentation during the deliberations.
In his intervention on the topics of the meeting the Gambian minister Keita told the gathering of financial and digital experts that it will be hard to expect a fast big bang for an effective African Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) because to start with, the continent is not endowed with all the prerequisites to get to that level .”We will first have to get the basics right and that is reliable, accessible and affordable electricity and reliable internet. We don’t these prerequisites on the scale that is required for an effective DPI, but that is no excuse. We have to start small, scale up and do more of the same and ensure that we have common standards,” he told the gathering.
He said it is imperative that Africa know that learning by doing should be the way forward. We will not be able to have all the prerequisites in place before we start something but rather we can build on what we have., We all know electricity access and internet speed are not at that level as required but that should not stop us from actually taking off,” Minister Keita told the gathering.
He cited tech companies in the world saying they are big because of their control over data. “Google is what it is today not because of technology but control of data. Likewise, Amazon’s growth is not just on merchandise but access to data. So it is high time African government and public officials look at data as the new gold for economic development,” he said.
The Gambian delegation also teamed up with the staff of Gambian embassy in South Africa led by Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay to attend the meeting.
