As Rwanda and the region continues to adopt technology, more technological solutions on the African continent should be homegrown, Elizabeth Migwalla, the Senior Director for Government Affairs, Africa at Qualcomm Inc, a multinational corporation for services related to wireless technology, reckons.
This, she says, calls for local innovators to go on to dream and innovate.
She was speaking in an exclusive interview with Doing Business on the sidelines of the recently concluded World Telecom Conference that took place in Kigali.
According to her, sectors like agriculture, health, or even utilities like electricity and water can benefit a lot from homegrown technological solutions; and local technologists have what it takes in terms of creativity, so they just need to be supported.
"There are so many little things. You can think of anything you want now, because with the technology - things like sensors, cameras and processing capabilities that exist currently, what can’t you do?” she said.
"We have people who are dreaming up things, and so, what is needed is to look at how we can give them the platform and the support,” she added.
Migwalla has been working for Qualcomm for more than 15 years, running their government affairs portfolio since they set up an office in South Africa. She is also Qualcomm’s focal for relationships with the International Telecommunications Union.
From her experience, she says, she has seen some amazing homegrown innovations in various countries in a number of sectors, and she believes that time is soon coming where even devices used in Internet of Things (IoT) are made in Africa, as innovators take advantage of the availability of sensors, cameras and other potential components of such devices.
"This is a pivoting point where we don’t just want to be the suppliers of tech devices through our partners. We think that the next set of IoT devices should and can be generated from this continent in a place like Rwanda. So the conversation is how we can foster partnerships for innovation,” she said.
Rwandan innovators have come up with some homegrown technology solutions, for instance in IoT where the Tap & Go system for public transport payments.
Migwalla also believes that technology has the power to change people’s lives on the continent and pull them out of poverty, for example, through increasing their access to ecommerce, for example.
"For instance, our people in Kenya who make beads in the villages are now making millions because they can showcase their products on the internet and people place orders,” she said.
Qualcomm is a company that works in partnership across the value chain, partnering with governments – policy makers, operators like device manufacturers and software developers to deepen wireless services across the globe.
In terms of using homegrown technologies, China is one of the countries that stand out as an example globally. With tech solutions ranging vehicle sharing platforms like DiDi for cars and Qingju Bike for bikes, to fintech solutions like AliPay and Wechat.