NEWS
Ghana and Malawi strengthen Digital Transformation cooperation
Ghana and Malawi have reaffirmed their commitment to greater collaboration and knowledge sharing around digital transformation, public sector innovation and the delivery of digital government services.
The commitment followed a visit by a Malawian delegation to Ghana’ s Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations as part of a study tour examining the country’ s Digital Transformation initiatives.
Welcoming the delegation, Ghana’ s Deputy Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mohammed Adams Sukparu, said the country was pleased to share its experience of using digital technologies to support sustainable development and improve public service delivery.
Ghana’ s Digital Transformation agenda has focused on investments spanning digital infrastructure, digital identity, cybersecurity, e-government services, digital skills and innovation ecosystems.
The visit provided officials from both countries with an opportunity to exchange experiences and explore approaches to addressing common digital transformation challenges across Africa.
Stuart Ligomeka, Deputy Chief Secretary in Malawi’ s Office of the President and Cabinet and leader of the delegation, described Ghana as a valuable reference point for Malawi’ s own digital transformation efforts.
He said Malawi was particularly interested in understanding Ghana’ s systems, institutional arrangements and approaches to digital government, with lessons from the visit expected to inform its own strategy.
The delegation also proposed continued engagement between technical teams in both countries to facilitate specialised expertise and knowledge exchange.
“ We are one people and one Africa, and it is important for us to share knowledge and our experiences so that together we can build a better Africa,” Ligomeka said.
BSG and Technologies’ founder and CEO, Thando Gumede
South Africa welcomes IRIS manufacturing plant launch
The Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Nomalungelo Gina, has welcomed the launch of South Africa’ s locally developed IRIS AI Humanoid Tutor manufacturing plant and showroom at Dube TradePort in Durban, saying the initiative has the potential to create jobs while transforming teaching and learning.
The launch marked an important step by BSG and Technologies’ founder and CEO, Thando Gumede, to expand into local manufacturing.
Dr Gina said the initiative has the potential to create 20 000 jobs over the next five years, describing the project as a powerful example of how innovation can drive educational advancement, industrial development and economic growth.
“ As the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation( DSTI), our mandate is to support science, technology and innovation that address the real conditions of our people,” she said, calling for strong collaboration between government and the private sector to support initiatives like these.
The newly launched IRIS Showroom will provide schools, government departments, investors and communities with an opportunity to experience how artificial intelligence and robotics can contribute to education, skills development and the advancement of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.
Gumede shared her personal journey behind the development of IRIS, explaining that her experience as a teacher exposed her to the immense workload educators face, including lesson preparation, marking and learner performance analysis.
“ Teachers spend countless hours beyond the classroom preparing lessons, marking assessments and analysing learner performance data. The workload often extends into our personal time, making work-life balance extremely difficult,” said Gumede.
She said the vision behind IRIS was to create a solution that supports teachers, administrators and learners while expanding access to quality education.
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