Summary:

• The government urges more companies to invest in communications gadget manufacturing in Uganda to lower digital communication costs.

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KAMPALA, (Examiner) – The government has appealed to more companies to invest in the manufacture of communications gadgets in Uganda, to help further reduce the cost of digital communication.

Minister for Information, Communication Technology, and National Guidance, Chris Baryomunsi says that so far there is evidence that this can have a big impact on the cost of gadgets, considering that locally manufactured phones, laptops, and iPads are quite cheap. He was speaking at the launch of Blue Chip Technologies, a Pan-African digital technology company in Uganda.

Baryomunsi says Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa risk suffering a greater digital divide between the global north and the global south because of the slow rate of adoption of digital technologies compared to the other regions.

He says there is a need to speed up the 4th Industrial Revolution in the country because every sector of the economy now has to be powered by digital innovations.

BlueChip Technologies, an African tech giant specializing in Data Management and Analytics says that it aims to revolutionize Uganda’s technological landscape by introducing a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions tailored to meet the specific needs of Ugandan businesses and organizations.

While welcoming the new company into the country, however, Baryomunsi said that while there is progress in the country, digital penetration is still being hampered by the high cost of the internet and gadgets.

He said that his ministry and other stakeholders are in talks with other government departments to either reduce or waive the taxes on communications gadgets like mobile phones and computers.

He said that unfortunately, some locally-made products are yet to penetrate the market despite being cheaper, with one assembler having to rely now on exporting them.

However, despite this, the minister says they will continue with the efforts where the government aims to ensure a smartphone costs as low as 40,000 shilling in two years, from the current low-end cost of 150,000.

On the high cost of the internet, Baryomunsi said that through the expansion of the infrastructure, as well as the increasing number of internet users, the cost of the internet will continue falling.

Currently, the government-supplied data costs 35 dollars per megawatt per second a month, while the national average cost, which includes private providers, is 45 dollars.

This is down from 300 dollars in 2016. He is confident that as the National Backbone Infrastructure, currently covering 45 percent of the country, expands, supply and reliability as well as cost will be improved as the government secures more resources.

According to Soyombo Olumide- Co-Founder, of Blue Chip Global Technologies, they were attracted into the country by the untapped potential of Uganda’s “vibrant and growing digital economy coupled with the incredible spirit of innovation that thrives within its borders.”

The company expects that its entry into the market will accelerate technological advancement in the country due to their expertise in digital transformation, scalable infrastructure solutions, and cybersecurity, hence catalyzing the country’s journey towards a more digitally-driven economy” Olumide said.

He added that the entrepreneurship levels among the population, the young and fast-growing population, as well as its attractiveness to investments in the region, are a big asset for the future of the country.

Olumide said he was fascinated by the level of e-government in Uganda where investment processing can all be done online.

The company also focuses on identifying graduate students and training them for the market, as part of its technology transfer function.

Since its inception in 2018, BlueChip Technologies has since expanded to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and now Uganda.

Kazeem Tewogbade Co-Founder of BlueChip Technologies said, “Our commitment to Africa’s growth and global competitiveness centres on excellence, innovation, and customer satisfaction ensures that we deliver tangible results, helping clients to achieve their digital transformation goals effectively.

“We approach the intricate challenge of deriving actionable business insights from data and process automation through a symphony of seven critical business levers: Strategy, People, Process, Metrics, Applications, Data, and Architecture,” he said.