By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Outreach Officer, Ministry of Information and Civic Education
The Minister of Communication, Technology, and Innovation, Salima Bah, has said the government has spent a whopping $132 million as direct investment in the technology and innovation sector over the last six years.
Minister Salima was speaking during the weekly government press briefing on Tuesday, where she highlighted the progress the government has made in the sector. Minister Bah hailed President Bio as the Chief of Digital Transformation, an inspiration that she has carried to do her work.
“For President Bio, access to mobile and internet services is a basic human right, and that is why under his leadership we have had the highest prioritization to roll out strategies on digital transformation,” she said.
“The government has made significant investment in the sector; to date, the government has invested $132 million in direct investment in the sector to move the digital transformation agenda forward,” Madam Bah added.
The investments have gone into policy formulation, roll-out, building infrastructure, and funding initiatives and projects like what the Universal Access Development Fund has accomplished.
“UADF has expanded digital services; they just completed the construction of three new digital centers at Tokeh, Daru, and Falaba. They have equipped those centers with computers and trained people in those communities on digital skills,” Madam Bah said.
UADF completed training for more than 300 people in those three communities.
She said UADF has also built sites to enhance connectivity across the country, with specific focus on farming communities where connectivity is a challenge.
“In building some of those sites we had to prioritize communities that are agricultural zones; this also helps the government’s flagship program, which is Feed Salone,” she stated.
Madam Bah said despite what the government has achieved in the sector, it is still committed to achieving more.
“We want to show everyone that we are meeting our commitments and we are making progress, but we also know we have to do more, and we are committed to doing so,” she added.
Madam Bah is the youngest serving minister in President Julius Maada Bio’s cabinet.
