The Vice President of the United States of America (USA), Kamala Harris has stated that the United states of America is ready to partner with African countries to help accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship.
She underscored the need to invest in innovation, saying innovation results in one’s ability not only to see, but to do things differently.
Kamala Harris said this while delivering a keynote address in Accra on Tuesday, March 28th, 2023 at the Black Stars Square as part of her activities during her visit in Ghana.
“The Biden-Harris administration and the American people stand ready to partner with you, to help accelerate the innovation and entrepreneurship that is already underway,” She said.
She sighted examples where innovation is solving local problems and global problems on the continent.
“Let’s look, for example, at what is happening across the continent in technology, science, agriculture, and clean energy, where innovation is solving local problems and global problems.
Just think, before Venmo or Apple Pay, there was M-PESA in Kenya, a mobile phone payment service that revolutionized the digital financial system,” she said.
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She acknowledged the fact that right now, African nations are pioneering the delivery of healthcare supplies by drone in Rwanda, noting that this has reduced the delivery time for emergency blood supplies.
In Ghana, she observed that this service has delivered more than 9 million vaccines, including those for COVID-19, adding that this service has expanded to Kenya and Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire and recently to the United States, in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Utah.
According to Kamala Harris, in South Africa, part of the world’s largest radio telescope is under construction, saying it will help answer some of the biggest questions of humanity, about galaxies, about gravity.
Also in Tanzania, she said plans are underway to build the first facility of its kind on the continent to process minerals that go into electric vehicle batteries.
“We see water-based farming in Kenya, battery energy storage systems in Malawi, and fintech startups in Nigeria. African ideas and innovation are shaping the world, all of which fuel our optimism and hope. Yet we must also be candid about the challenges, from security concerns in the Sahel, to droughts and floods exasperated by the climate crisis, and barriers to economic growth both on a macro and micro level,” she said.
The US Vice President continued that,”We must tackle these challenges and find ways to accelerate opportunity, growth, and stability.”
“I believe we must be intentional to make progress in three key areas: the empowerment of women; digital inclusion; and good governance and democracy, all of which are a focus of my visit to the continent and going forward, and all of which have the potential to create even more innovation, innovation that will unlock new jobs, new industries, and exponential growth,” she said.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori.
