HOME
About Us
This inaugural edition of the Digital Economy Regional Conference (DERC) is a pioneering effort aimed at bringing together all 15 West African countries that make up the ECOWAS sub-region to discuss and showcase their efforts towards the development of digital economies in the sub-region.
Country participation is expected at the ministerial level and the Ministers are to be accompanied by CEOs of major institutions of the Digital Economy sector in each country. Country teams would also include start-ups that would participate in an exhibition, which is a side event at the conference, to showcase the innovation ecosystem in each country.
As the leading digital economy in the sub-region and conference organizer, Nigeria will also showcase its startups and discuss the strides in the digital economy sector. Since the conference is being convened under the auspices of the Nigerian Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the Minister, Prof. Ali Ibrahim Pantami would be the Chief Convener and Chief Host of the conference.
It is expected that the conference would also seek to become an annual institutional event.
Objectives of the Conference
- Create a platform for countries in the West Africa region to meet and discuss issues that will strengthen the digital economies in the region and, by extension, the continent
- Create an avenue for peer-review to accelerate digital transformation
- Showcase progress made, identify winning strategies, discuss challenges and prepare for the future, using the partnership between Nigeria and the World Bank as a case study
- Increase collaborative efforts and secure partnerships within the region to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem
- Intensify regional public private partnership for digital economy funding, research and development
- Create more awareness of the region’s needs in specific areas of the digital economy, such as policies and frameworks
- Create a platform for attracting private sponsors for digital transformation efforts in the region
