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Government is looking at developing the biggest tech hub in Africa, a
coding and programming academy as well as co-working and co-creation spaces
for the youth and start-ups in particular. ¡§Through the Small
Enterprise Development Agency (seda), my department, in partnership with the
Department of Telecommunication and Postal Services, has started a
conversation to develop the biggest Tech Hub in Africa ¡K¡¨, the Minister of
Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu, said on Friday, 22 February 2019.
She was addressing an engagement session with the creative industry in
Johannesburg under the theme: ¡§Leveraging on Digital Platforms for 4IR
Creatives¡¨.
The session was led by Communications Minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, and
Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana.
The one-day engagement focussed on broadcasting, audiovisual and new
platforms, as well as the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Minister Zulu said the technological revolution must improve and advance the
lives of South Africans.
It also becomes important that small, medium and micro enterprises and
cooperatives embrace this radical reshaping of the relationship between
technology capabilities and business opportunities.
¡§Incubators must focus on creating a new generation of South African
start-ups that will drive the creation of disruptive technologies in the
creatives industry,¡¨ she said.
The Minister said South Africa was well placed to benefit from the potential
of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in the future.
The Minister said the size of South Africa¡¦s gross domestic product, its
levels of per capita income and productivity gave it the advantage to lead
in the ICT sector on the continent.
¡§If South Africa wants to build on its existing strengths, it must not wait
longer with making meaningful, and sometimes bold, changes. It must overcome
its current complacency, political complexity, and inertia to act.
¡§South African initiatives are likely to be successful only if they happen
in an integrated manner and, importantly, create more scale and scope for
growth across Africa and create the conditions that allow a greater role for
consumers and businesses to drive the impact of new technologies through
their effective use,¡¨ the Minister said.
¡V Source: SAnews.gov.za |
