Wednesday the 27th of January 2021 saw an exclusive top level dialogue with the President of The Republic of Kenya; Uhuru Kenyatta, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alphabet and Google; Sundar Pichai. The dialogue which was hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), concentrated on how partnerships alongside digital technologies will be able to unlock new avenues for the continent of Africa’s economic growth.
The dialogue was moderated by Zain Verjee who is an award winning journalist, and founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zain Verjee Group.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of Corporate Council on Africa (CCA); Florizelle Liser started off the dialogue by making it known that the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) was happy to bring the Savannah Valley and Silicon Valley together and also facilitate the conversation.
Florizelle Liser shed some light on the partnership between Africa and the United States making it known that, “If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that we are better off working together, and our ability to collaborate is critical for post pandemic economic recovery both here in the United States and in Africa.”
Over the course of the dialogue, President Uhuru Kenyatta shed light on just how much technology has been influential in the growth of Kenya over the last 20 years. In his words, “Today as we speak, as a result of digitization, technology, internet penetration, almost 95% of all Kenyans have access to financial services as opposed to less than 20 years ago when only 25% of the population had a bank account.”
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alphabet and Google; Sundar Pichai agreed with President Uhuru Kenyatta and reaffirmed the commitment of Google in supporting job seekers, businesses and governments in Kenya and all over Africa.
In 2020 the American multinational technology company; Google, created a 1 million Dollar (109.97 million Kenyan Shilling) grant for Kenyan women who have been financially impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic negatively, numerous initiatives to ensure that students are able to learn without physical content, and a digital hub aimed at helping 300,000 Kenyan Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) gain access to the internet.
With the future in mind the President of The Republic of Kenya; Uhuru Kenyatta, emphasized that there is a need for partnerships geared towards transforming the facilitative role of technology in Kenya into growth and economic opportunity. He stated that, “We want to work together, partnering with American companies and American companies partnering with Kenyan SMEs. This is where the true growth potential exists so that the facilitative work we have done is actually now leapfrogged upon by the opportunities created by the linkages that we can establish, through the work of, for example, the Corporate Council on Africa.”
While going into detail about what Google is doing to help businesses going through tough times during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic; Sundar Pichai announced a 10 million Dollar (1.1 Trillion Kenyan Shillings) aimed at supporting economic recovery within Kenya, stating that “it is comprised of 3 things — 2 million USD to local non -profits which are serving underserved communities in Kenya, 3 million USD to SMEs… and 5 million to support technology startups to help them grow and develop.”
In ending the dialogue Florizelle Liser reaffirmed the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA)’s commitment towards partnerships between markets in the United States and Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya. Florizelle Liser added that alongside working with the new Biden Administration, “CCA will continue to engage and support our member companies and U.S. and African public and private sector partners as we all work to drive economic recovery and develop solutions to promote investment and economic development in Africa.”
Are there any other topics, news or categories that you would like us to write on? Feel free to reach out to Mpesa Pay in the comment section.
