Lesley Williams, the Chief Executive Officer of Wits Tshimologong Digital Innovation, Johannesburg, South Africa, has charged Africans to consider the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to identify and showcase indigenous solutions to the multifaceted challenges confronting the continent.
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Delivering her keynote address at the fourth edition of the two-day Annual Breakfast Dialogue of the Aspire Coronation Trust (ACT), held virtually, with the theme: ‘Tech for Good: Fostering Social Innovation and Digital Investments for Transformative Change’, Williams challenged policy makers and innovators to consider the pandemic as an avenue to explore African solutions to the problems.
According to her, the problems arising from the COVID-19 outbreak across the continent in the wake of global economic decline, had resulted in developing nations putting their national interests first.
She noted that Africa was caught up in the same challenges of COVID-19 pandemic like the rest of the world.
Williams, a recipient of the 2018 Inspiring Fifty Award by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and with over 20 years of experience working in innovation and impact globally, urged Africans to summon the courage by having confidence in their innovative solutions to the challenges confronting the continent.
“Africa, like the rest of the world, is caught up in the same COVID-19 problem, and people are focusing on their respective countries. We need to trust ourselves, we need to trust our solutions and bring them to the fore,” she said.
At the first ever virtual edition of the dialogue, which featured conversations on the role of technology in fostering social innovation and digital transformation, experts harped on the need for up skilling management executives across diverse establishments to facilitate digital transformation, develop technological solutions to challenges, and an inclusive technology device for disabled people, as well as rethinking the operational designs of technovations for rural communities.
The panelists were drawn from technology-driven organisations in the Nigerian economy, while discussants included Professor Olayinka David-West, Academic Director, Lagos Business School; Nkemdilim Begho, Managing Director, Future Software Resources Nigeria Ltd and Bosun Tijani, CEO, Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB).
The event also featured a breakout Masterclass anchored simultaneously by the trio of Ololade Otayemi, Chief of Staff, Ventures Platform Hub; Emilia Asim, Founder/Practice Director, AML; and Chidi Koldsweat, Founder, Donors for Africa, who took sessions designed to educate participants on the effective use of technology to optimise social impact, storytelling and writing bankable proposals to secure grants for social impact projects, respectively.
