- The National Data Strategy was developed in partnership with Smart Africa and GIZ.
On Friday 24th, the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications, and Digital Economy (MCTEN) concluded an observation and brainstorming consultative workshop as a part of the Senegal Digital Strategy 2025 (SN2025) which is in partnership with Smart Africa and GIZ through its Data Economy project. The workshop forms part of the process to equip Senegal with a national data strategy in line with the country’s priorities in terms of sustainable development, promotion of innovation, and value creation, especially digital sovereignty.
It was a two-day workshop through which experts from stakeholder groups and actors of the digital economy met to collect and exchange information on data infrastructures, the regulatory framework, governance, and data uses in Senegal. The workshop was also an opportunity to share the context and objectives of the strategy development project with the entire digital ecosystem.
During the opening ceremony of the workshop in Dakar, the country’s capital, the Director General of Smart Africa, Lacina Kone said, “Africa’s digital sovereignty relied on managing its data, the new oil. I therefore particularly welcome the willingness of the Senegalese government to implement a national data strategy to supervise and manage the use of data”.
Minister of Communication, Telecommunication, and Digital Economy, Moussa Bocar Thiam said that Senegal plans to maintain its dedication to the data-driven era of digital innovation in order to advance the digital economy by adding value in areas like bettering the formulation of public policies or modernizing user-centered public services.
Smart Africa is a coalition of 36 African nations, international agencies, and global commercial sectors in charge of advancing Africa’s digital agenda. The alliance is strengthened by the bold and creative commitment made by African Heads of State to advance the continent’s sustainable socioeconomic development and bring it into the knowledge economy through the use of ICTs and widely accessible broadband.
The Smart Africa Alliance brings together Heads of State who aspires to accelerate the digitalization of the continent and build a common market, with a vision to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030.
The Alliance, which was founded in 2013 by seven (7) African Heads of State, today includes 36 member nations, representing more than 1.5 billion people, as well as more than 40 private sector members that are dedicated to the Alliance’s mission and the growth of Africa.