South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile has urged policymakers to lay the groundwork for Africa's digital economy.

This, he said, entails enhancing digital infrastructure, digital skills, cybersecurity capabilities, and affordable and accessible data.

Mashatile was a keynote speaker at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress Africa (GEC+Africa) in Cape Town, South Africa.

“We need to do more to implement the African Union’s Digital Transformation Agenda, adopted at its Summit of Heads of State in February 2019. We must ensure that by 2030, every individual, business, and government on the continent will be digitally enabled and ready to support a growing digital economy,” he said.

The GEC+Africa kicked off yesterday and will conclude today at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The event brings together entrepreneurs and leaders from more than 50 African nations.

According to Mashatile, “Africa is a continent overflowing with untapped potential, a hub of innovation and invention waiting to be re-awakened.”

Meanwhile, Telkom, a South African telecommunications group, which is supporting the event, said as part of this year’s GEC+Africa, it had provided an opportunity for five SMMEs to attend the gathering.

The sponsored attendees include Mamello Mofokeng, founder of Saturated; Loyiso Vatsha, founder of Mapha Logistics; Benjamin Tshefu, founder of Horizontal Gravity T/A Bang Capital; Thabo Tsolo, founder of Space Salad; and Lesego Ndlovu, founder of Ball Talent.

Telkom said: “The South African startup ecosystem is a thriving hub of innovative and talented entrepreneurs with a desire to scale.”

Randall Abrahams, Telkom Group executive of digital solutions, alongside Telkom head of business development, Tshepo Phetla, attended the event as guest speakers on the topics of emerging technologies that will transform business, and winning models for enterprise and supplier development, respectively.

Phetla said: “Our commitment to the development of entrepreneurs is not merely lip service – we actively invest in SMMEs so that they can, in turn, contribute to the South African economy.”