This large-scale event organized by the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) represents a significant opportunity provided by the GSMA (International Association of Mobile Telephony Operators) to industry operators. This year, it welcomed a record number of over 196 delegations representing 151 countries and 45 intergovernmental organizations.

Led by the GSMA Director for the Africa region, this year's ministerial program is one that brought together at the same table, in a single session, almost all the stakeholders from the DRC, including the Ministers of PTNTIC and Digital, the presidents of the Regulatory Authorities for Posts and Telecommunications (ARPTC), the official in charge of the universal service development fund, telecommunications operators, development partners, and the GSMA.

This meeting is held to find solutions for the imminent effective deployment of mobile technology.

Hence the interest for Africa in general and the DRC in particular to get involved in the discussions and arrangements of the different regions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

In collaboration with stakeholders from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Ministerial Program organized a national dialogue on Wednesday, February 28 (on the sidelines of this conference), which focused primarily on the DRC.

The main objective of this session is to deliberate on the levers that can accelerate the digitization of the economy and the role of mobile technology.

The Ministerial Program seeks to understand the necessary interventions from a political and investment perspective to accelerate digitization in the DRC, which is why it initiated a national dialogue to achieve results that aim to bring together the main stakeholders of the DRC's digital economy.

For this year, all stakeholders in the DRC are present at this conference to discuss together with the aim of fostering collaboration and advancing the country's digital landscape. This occasion will allow the Congolese delegation to:

  • Deliberate on the measures or interventions that can be implemented to strengthen transparency and trust among stakeholders;
  • Create an environment conducive to investment and risk mitigation;
  • Examine the role of digital technologies in the economic transformation of the DRC, how they can spur socio-economic development by increasing productivity, creating jobs, and improving governance;
  • Identify opportunities and quantify the economic value of adopting digital technologies in specific sectors of the economy, and identify ways to exploit them through policy reforms to support digital transformation;
  • Discuss strategic priority reforms aimed at encouraging the adoption and use of digital technologies, including: fiscal policy reform to improve resource mobilization, stimulate investment in broadband infrastructure, and encourage the population's adoption and use of affordable digital devices and services, spectrum policy reform to ensure the expansion of high-performance mobile networks with the most advanced technology, network deployment policy reform to encourage infrastructure sharing and minimize administrative formalities and the cost of on-site deployments.
  • Develop a roadmap to track progress and measure the impact of digital inclusion efforts.

On the sidelines of this congress, Minister Kibassa Maliba and his delegation attended the Global Ministers Reception organized by his Spanish counterparts in digital transformation and public administration, before participating in the 18th steering committee meeting of Smart Africa the following day.

Gisèle Tshijuka