By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon have
discussed new areas of cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI), digital
public services and data infrastructure following a high-level meeting between
their digital ministers during the 6th session of the African Union’s Specialized
Technical Committee on Communication and Information Technology in Libreville,
Gabon.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of
Digital Transition and Technological Innovation, Djibril Ouattara, said the
discussions with his Gabonese counterpart, Mark-Alexandre Doumba, focused on
concrete avenues for cooperation between the two countries, including the reuse
of algorithms dedicated to public services and the implementation of cross-data
backups.
Ouattara, who participated
in the AU committee meeting, also took part in a high-level panel on digital
diplomacy at the invitation of Doumba.
In artificial intelligence,
the two countries identified opportunities to share computing capacities,
collaborate on application testing protocols and use cases, and establish links
between their startups to create new opportunities in the West African Economic
and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and Central African Economic and Monetary Community
(CEMAC) markets.
The meeting also formed part
of broader discussions at the AU committee session, which culminated in the
adoption of a joint statement for the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference in Doha.
Ouattara said Côte d’Ivoire,
under the leadership of President Alassane Ouattara, was continuing its
pan-Africanist tradition and commitment to building a stronger and more
sovereign digital Africa.
“To achieve this, we must
continue to invest, make strategic choices that break with preconceived
approaches and strengthen cooperation between our countries,” he said.
