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Digital Retail in China 

Digital RetailWhen considering the needs of those in poverty, a demographic often lacking consistent access to basic necessities such as food, shelter and clean water, advancements in digital retail may seem an unnecessary luxury. However, in recent years, many have noted the positive impact of the digitization of commercial services on economic growth in China; despite being “the world’s third largest and fastest-growing major economy,” 13% of China’s population (almost 200 million people) still live below the poverty line of $5.50 a day as of 2021.

Advantages of Digital Retail

One of the main advantages of digital retail is its ability to overcome geographical obstacles: rural workers are now able to promote their products and services to a much larger consumer base than previously. They are also now able to contribute to the development of entire industrial chains in e-commerce. Think tank China Watch attributed the creation of over 28 million jobs in rural regions of China to the expansion of online retailing and, in 2019, digital sales reached almost $16 billion in more than 760 impoverished counties. Marginalized groups in particular, such as the elderly and women with children, have benefitted from gaining access to customers and resources that might otherwise lie beyond their reach.

The expansion and implementation of digital retail in urban areas can also come with additional financial resources: digital access to loans and insurance can provide support and protection for burgeoning businesses. Key players in China include MYbank, which granted more than 4 million contactless loans within impoverished counties in its first five years (2015-2020), and JD.com, whose digital agricultural loan collaborations in the first two years (2017-2019), worth approximately 1 billion yuan ($143.5 million), reported no overdue repayments or defaults.

The Barriers

Despite the progress so far, there are still challenges and nuances that need consideration. Many of the above-mentioned developments require a certain level of technological infrastructure to operate, which many rural and impoverished regions have not yet reached. Almost 30% of the Chinese population is still without internet access, rendering these services unattainable to them, according to a 2021 study. The same study noted a “digital divide” in the nation, whereby the expansion of digital inclusive finance significantly alleviated poverty rates in the more developed eastern region of China yet showed “no significant effect” on the “relatively backward in development” western region.

Ongoing Efforts

In 2019, Xubei Luo, senior economist at World Bank, discussed attempts to facilitate e-commerce for marginalized groups: a village agent to assist locals in navigating digital retail platforms, make payments for villagers so that the latter only pay once they are satisfied with their product and bypass the need for villagers to make their own website results in a “lower threshold for the less advantaged to participate.” She equally noted the possibility of government assistance through “strategic subsidies.”

Looking Ahead

In the face of poverty, the expansion of digital retail in China has brought tangible benefits, enabling rural workers to reach a wider consumer base and contribute to local economic growth. The accessibility of digital loans and insurance has provided crucial support to emerging businesses, fostering financial stability. Although challenges remain, efforts are underway to bridge the digital divide and ensure that marginalized groups can participate in and benefit from the opportunities offered by e-commerce.

– Helene Schlichter
Photo: Flickr

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Minecraft: Building a New Reality Via the Digital World

MinecraftWhen thinking of Minecraft most people will associate it with kids playing something akin to digital Legos, building worlds and if everything goes according to plan, defeating the Ender Dragon. At its core, this view effectively captures the game at the surface level. Partnering with U.N.-Habitat, Minecraft developer Mojang has harnessed the game concept and applied it to sustainable solutions for developing public space and addressing global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Since 2012, the aim has been to integrate Minecraft into urban planning on a local level, prioritizing the involvement of community members, particularly those that lack a voice in public development initiatives such as women, children, refugees and the elderly. The space they are working with is for the people and designed by the people. Behind the success of the Block by Block methodology lies the simplicity of Minecraft, providing an exceptionally effective lens for visualizing a three-dimensional environment that an untrained eye can make sense of, and propter hoc contribute to.

Block By Block

Pilot ventures in Nairobi and Mumbai in 2013 evolved the methodology into what it is today, built on the central tenet of collaboration. Block by Block provides community residents with the training, tools and platforms to develop and share their ideas on how best to transform public space. The exchange of ideas broadens the considerations of all those involved in the collaborative planning process.

Co-created public spaces come into existence, designed by different people and as such take into consideration the needs and concerns of all those involved in the process, resulting in a ubiquitously accommodating locality. Furthermore, what develops as a by-product is a shared sense of ownership and responsibility for the area, increasing the likelihood of maintenance and endurance, whilst simultaneously strengthening the bonds of the community.

Block by Block selects projects based on financial sustainability, accessibility and potential impact. They tend to target youth empowerment, refugee rights, climate change, accessibility, cultural heritage, social inclusion and human rights involving health and safety.

Kosovo

Following the success of a 2015 project in Pristina, Kosovo, that saw the transformation of an abandoned marketplace into a vibrant public space with a range of facilities including children’s playgrounds and Kosovo’s first skatepark, the Block by Block methodology was implemented once more in Mitrovica, some 40 km north of Pristina.

Located on the banks of the Iber river and divided by The New Bridge, the administrative center of the district is burdened by the ethnic divisions between the Serbian and Albanian communities on either side of the river. A symbol of division, the bridge separates the 80,000 Kosovo Albanians living in the north and the community of 20,000 Serbians in the south. In 2016, Block by Block hosted a workshop bringing together residents of both communities to explore ways how to transform the area and collaboratively design their ideas using Minecraft. The approach aimed to negate the divisions between the communities, changing social attitudes towards the city’s unity through democratizing urban planning’s development process. Construction began in 2017, focused on community interaction and urban redevelopment and has had knock-on effects on intercity cooperation to bring about enduring changes across Kosovo’s socio economic landscape.

Nepal

Dey Pukhu, literally translated to “state pond,” as found in the Kirtipur settlement of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, is as one would expect, a pond, typically used for daily gathering and steeped in tradition, having been designed for socio-religious functions. Rapid urbanization across the area threatened the water systems and affected the use of Dey Pukhu for social and traditional gatherings, with other public spaces similarly experiencing some form of deterioration as well. In 2013 Block by Block selected it for restoration with the aim to sustainably revitalize the area and for the methodology to gain traction and lead to further development initiatives across Nepal.

Gathering local stakeholders to propose ideas for restoration and development, the initiative noted the rise in youth engagement with the project and the notion of public space. As Pontus Westberg of U.N.-Habitat outlined, the young people’s confidence, effort and pride in their work was perhaps the most rewarding outcome from the project. The positive response led to further development programs put in place across the Kathmandu metropolitan area.

Noteworthy is the 2015 Kirtipur project that proposed the development of a site with a school, temple and a water system amidst large open areas of green and vegetation. Following designs and finalized models of the site, the earthquake hit Nepal in April 2015, delaying implementation. U.N.-Habitat allocated $50,000 in emergency response, repairing a damaged local school and providing essentials for survival including water tanks and emergency shelter. By June 2016 the project was running again, with a trash-covered hillside converted into an open park with recreational space and access to clean water as well as a Public Space Revitalisation Plan put in place for the entire municipality of Kirtipur.

Successful Stories

The Block by Block applied its methodology to other cities across the Kathmandu Valley and is active in over 35 countries. The examples above have set off a chain reaction in the areas of implementation. More recent projects include the likes of public gardens as safe spaces for women and children in Beit Lahia. The successes are a momentous use of technology for the public good and make one wonder what other global concerns can have a solution in something as simple and commonplace as video games.

– Bojan Ivancic
Photo: Unsplash

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Libya’s Digital Strategy

Libya’s Digital Strategy
Libya is a country in North Africa. One of the largest countries in Africa, Libya has many deserts and is rich in culture and natural resources. There is a greater requirement for a digital lifestyle in today’s culture. The expanding digitalization in Libya is now undergoing exploitation effectively for the country’s benefit. Beginning on February 15, 2022, in New York, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Libya will concentrate on a new digital strategy to help communities and countries use digital technology as a tool to help combat and expand economic opportunity, promote diversity and reduce inequality. UNDP intends to keep up with the constantly evolving digital landscape and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with its daring new Digital Strategy 2022–2025.

Implementation

According to UNDP Libya, the strategy provides a three-pronged strategy for how UNDP would help countries profit from digital technology. First, UNDP will integrate digital into its work, experiment with new methods and technologies, scale up effective solutions and use foresight to comprehend potential futures in order to amplify development outcomes. Second, it will ensure that everyone is included in digital technology by making building more “inclusive digital ecosystems.” Third, UNDP will keep evolving and setting the bar high in order to satisfy present and foreseeable technical needs. To promote cooperation around the ethical and sustainable use of technology, UNDP will also interact with business entrepreneurs, academics, researchers, students and policymakers.

The Reason the Digital Strategy is Necessary

Libya has grappled with the problem of conflict since April 2019. Unfortunately, this has negatively affected Libya’s services such as electricity. According to a Human Rights Watch article, “The United Nations-recognized and Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) has been embroiled in an armed conflict with the rival Interim Government based in eastern Libya.” As a result, violence impeded the delivery of essential services, including power and health care. Armed groups on all sides persisted in carrying out illegal killings and indiscriminate shelling that killed civilians and destroyed crucial infrastructure.

In addition, when Libya’s provisional unity government formed in March 2021, internet freedom declined significantly. The population became less able to have access to the internet. The population grew adamant about better living conditions and less corruption in 2020 and as a result, local authorities throttled cell service. Libya has endured technological issues and the plan will guide UNDP’s efforts to address the new issues that the new digital environment brought on. There is also a large digital gap that UNDP is trying to diminish. There is a digital gap of about 2.9 billion people in developing countries and this consists mainly of women and children. Digital technology has the potential to amplify biases and further inequities if it is not used responsibly.

A Promising Future

Libya’s digital strategy has a strong potential for success. It will help Libya to benefit from a more digitized economy. According to UNDP Libya, “the strategy complements the U.N.’s global efforts to expand access to affordable broadband and enhance the digital capacity of key groups including women and people with disabilities – ultimately creating new opportunities like jobs while boosting human development.” Libya’s Digital Strategy is helping lessen the burden on the less fortunate by ensuring that everyone has access to digital futures, which can improve job opportunities and education.

– Frema Mensah
Photo: Flickr

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Laos’ Development Into A Digital Economy

Digital Economy
Many consider Laos one of the poorest countries in its surrounding region. However, its economy has significantly improved in the last 20 years, slowly connecting to the rest of the world digitally, especially as businesses were forced to adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Laos has made progress to develop a digital economy, it is still lagging behind as accessibility, quality and affordability are currently issues for its citizens. Thankfully, the Lao Ministry of Technologies and Communications has recognized the need for Laos to develop digitally. In fact, several sectors of the Lao Government are partnering with USAID to allow businesses to access the SMART UP e-learning platform to help enhance their digital literacy.

The Larger Issue

Laos’ lag in digitalization results in a lack of transparency, increased procedural hurdles for investors, high costs for business and lacking public-service delivery for the government. Laos ranks 154 of 190 in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report as well as 117 of 132 in The World Intellectual Property Organizations 2021 Global Innovation Index. Around 80% of the country works for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in which an estimated 100,000 operate informally due to “time, fees and paperwork associated with registering.”

Much of this is due to the Lao PDR’s processes being inefficient, having higher costs and disincentivizing businesses to be part of the formal economy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 78% of children in urban centers and 87.5% of children in rural areas could not access schooling. Around 48.9% of the population remained offline at the beginning of 2020. With 37.6% of the current population in urban areas and 64.2% in rural areas, Laos needs to increase its digitalization for its own development and to catch up with the rest of the world.

Efforts to Create a Digital Economy

The Lao Minister of Technologies and Communications Boveingkham Vongdara has acknowledged Laos’ need to accelerate and move into digital transformation with sustainable development. He claims the ministry is “promoting local language and creation of digital contents by developing fonts and keyboards that support the Lao language for computers and mobile devices.”

The Department of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion, Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Lao ICT Commerce association partnered with USAID to launch the SMART UP e-learning platform to help SMEs enhance their digital skills. SMART UP has eight modules that aim to help provide skills to businesses to enhance and promote themselves. It should help with digital literacy to help businesses become agile in the current economic environment, as well as to respond to digital development challenges so SMEs can survive as well as create new opportunities. With SMART UP helping SMEs and entrepreneurs, it will also create more jobs and opportunities for Lao citizens.

Within the first month of the launch, 373 users registered to use the SMART UP platform including 109 for Basic Accounting for SMEs, 63 in Digital Marketing for SMEs, 43 for Introduction to Data Analysis for SMEs, 35 in Full Stack Development, 34 in Multimedia for SMEs and 34 for Introduction to Digitalization. As a result, many small business owners have had a stronger foundation of knowledge in a quickly changing business environment.

Looking Ahead

While the COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges, it also presented opportunities for the Lao PDR to participate in the digital age and develop a digital economy. With its government recognizing the necessity for a digital economy and platforms such as SMART UP allowing citizens to become more digitally literate, Laos will elevate itself and create more opportunities for economic growth.

– Jerrett Phinney
Photo: Flickr

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The Digital Gap in Latin America and the Caribbean

Digital Gap in Latin America
As the World Economic Forum has noted, the COVID-19 “pandemic has exposed a deep digital divide” across the world. An Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study from 2020 indicated that the digital gap in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) equated to “three in 10 people” who do not have access to the internet. The pandemic highlights the importance of the internet and digital technology in keeping businesses and people connected by allowing for continuous contactless services and transactions. The LAC region has made great strides in improving internet access and has developed creative ways to ensure that marginalized and low-income communities can access the internet.

Factors Influencing the Digital Gap in Latin America and the Caribbean

Many factors influence digital accessibility, including income levels and location. The internet gap between low and high-income households equates to roughly 40%. About 67% of urban households have internet connections in comparison to 23% of rural households. Evidently, the digital divide is deep, but the LAC region has committed to closing this digital gap.

4 Ways the LAC Region is Closing the Digital Gap

  1. Caribbean Digital Transformation Project. In June 2020, the World Bank approved a $94 million project to implement “an inclusive digital economy” in four Eastern Caribbean nations. The project’s goal is to “increase access to digital services, technologies and skills by governments, businesses and individuals.”
  2. Increasing Free Internet Access. Peru, Argentina, Chile and Colombia have introduced laws to increase free internet access. This includes providing “tablets to teachers and students” and developing more “free WiFi hotspots in public spaces.” These Latin American countries are also expanding “zero-rated services,” meaning that “certain government, health and education sites” do not count as data usage for users. In the past, the world typically viewed internet access and smart devices as luxuries, but this mindset is starting to change as more countries realize that digital inclusion is vital for social and economic development.
  3. Internet as an Essential Public Service. In July 2021, Colombia passed a law defining “the internet [as] an essential public service.” Colombian President Iván Duque explained that the importance of the internet for the nation is “comparable to that of water, electricity and gas.” With this law in place, telecommunication companies must “guarantee customers internet service and provide minimum browsing and free text packages during health and other emergencies.” Chile and Argentina passed similar decrees during the COVID-19 pandemic. These laws are a start in closing the digital gap in Latin America and the Caribbean and could be bolstered by lowering the cost of the internet in low-income countries.
  4. Public Service Kiosks. The digital divide between rural and urban households in the LAC region is especially wide. The Colombian government has set up Vive Digital, “a collection of kiosks” situated in rural communities across the country. The kiosks give people a connection to the internet and increase the accessibility of “e-learning and e-training services” in addition to “online public services.”

Societal Benefits of Addressing the Digital Gap in the LAC Region

Closing the digital divide in Latin America and the Caribbean is critical to improving educational, health and economic opportunities in the region. The World Bank has played an instrumental role in ensuring connectivity in countries such as Haiti and Colombia. In Haiti, the World Bank is assisting with the broadband connectivity needs of roughly “1,300 public institutions.” In Colombia, the World Bank is assisting the Colombian government with advancing  policy and regulations in order to “expand broadband access.”

  • Health Benefits: The digital gap in Latin America and the Caribbean has serious implications for health, particularly given the increased reliance on telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, which drew attention to this issue. The adoption of digital health initiatives better serves rural residents without easy access to a health care facility. In Colombia, approved telecare health services rose by 192% between January 2020 and September 2020.
  • Economic Benefits: Digital inclusion will allow rural and underserved regions to take advantage of economic growth opportunities. The Digital Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean project found that the prevalence of “business websites increased by 800% in Colombia and Mexico” between April and May 2020. During the pandemic, the region has seen an increase in the number of people and businesses using digital technology for teleworking, shopping and e-commerce.
  • Education Benefits: As a result of the pandemic, countless children in Latin America have missed out on education opportunities due to school closures and a lack of internet connectivity. Existing initiatives, such as the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) partnership with Sesame Workshop, seek to ensure a continuation of early education through educational content broadcasts via television.

The Future of Digital Technology

Many LAC nations are experiencing a boom in internet adoption and access as organizations and governments take the necessary steps to close the digital divide in the region. The COVID-19 pandemic not only reveals the educational and health gaps that exist in the LAC region but also presents an opportunity to transform health care and education systems and build infrastructure in order to dissolve barriers to growth and development.

– Jennifer Hendricks
Photo: Flickr

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Geospatial Mapping to Help End Poverty

Geospatial Mapping
Without the help of development agencies, peacekeepers may always have to participate in the never-ending cycle of peacekeeping. With 50% of the world’s poor projected to live in counties where violence casts its constant shadow, peacekeeping efforts can only stand to scale, but at what cost, and to what end? Fortunately, technological advancements, such as geospatial mapping, can allow peacekeepers to help expand options for development agencies that danger constantly repels.

Accessibility to Hostile Territory

Lack of security defines development agencies’ diminishing hopes of lasting presence, demanding the perpetual presence of peacekeepers. Development projects thus deal with constant mission suspensions, limits on the number of authorized personnel and the inability to conduct crucial work. A review of relief operations in Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria have recorded a multitude of resources in safer areas that are not in need due to reluctance to transgress into “red zones.”

Access limitations are not a characteristic of peacekeeping efforts for obvious reasons. Without development agencies in the arena of conflict, peacekeepers merely provide greater tolerance for conflict since development is not within their capacity, serving to encourage scaling conflict which exposes more poor people to violence.

The World Bank’s Geo-Enabling for Monitoring and Supervision Initiative (GEMS)

The World Bank’s Geo-Enabling for Monitoring and Supervision initiative (GEMS) facilitates for government agencies the ability to use tech innovations such as KoBoToolbox, an open-source data collection software that the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative developed, to amass data and analysis in states defined, at least in part, by conflict to improve monitoring and evaluation. Government representatives and partner organizations receive training to develop and mete out a platform for data collection that usually takes place during field visits and undergoes acquisition with the assistance of mobile devices and can cover any topic relevant to the goals of a project. Such a process helps developers monitor a project’s progress while maintaining safety.

How Geospatial Mapping Tools for Peacekeepers Works

Geospatial mapping tools for peacekeepers serve the relevant function of sharing categorized data regarding violence and insecurity to apprise development experts. These sorts of data collection efforts include identifying the number, type and intensity of violent occurrences in conflicted areas where peacekeepers often work.

Security maps in conjunction with poverty can provide development agencies the ability to develop access strategies for projects that specialize in the delivery of commodities to the poor who are in conflict. Because security administration is a public service, data that peacekeepers amass can help governments measure the degree of necessity regarding providing accountable and effective security services. Allowing peacekeepers of the U.N. the capability of strengthening their data-gathering capabilities aid the U.N. in determining its efficacy regarding deployments.

U.N. peacekeepers have made progress regarding the protection of civilians policy (POC) in recent years. Notwithstanding, peacekeepers will linger in a state of perpetual peacekeeping if systems that can monitor and evaluate progress fail to undergo initiation. These maps, which initiatives like GEMS are implementing, provide an advantage for peacemaking and development efforts.

– Mohamed Makalou
Photo: Rawpixel

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GoodDollar Promotes Universal Basic Income

GoodDollar
GoodDollar is both the name of an Israeli cryptocurrency and a not-for-profit company launched in 2020. Cryptocurrency is an immaterial system of money that has secure coding. Additionally, people can exchange it virtually and governments do not control it. Yoni Assia is the mind behind the GoodDollar project and coin (G$), the virtual currency that intends to democratize the economy by working to promote universal basic income and reduce inequality. Universal basic income (UBI) is “a periodic cash allowance given to all citizens… to provide them with a standard of living above the poverty line.” Here is some information about how GoodDollar promotes universal basic income (UBI).

GoodDollar’s Mission

According to Forbes, 80% of the population owns only 6% of the world’s wealth, while the remaining 20% owns the rest. Against this unfair backdrop, GoodDollar is a potential game-changer through how it promotes universal basic income.

Yoni Assia believes that “too many underprivileged people are locked out of opportunities that could take them out of poverty, including access to capital markets and digital work opportunities. Therefore, the GoodDollar project aims to alleviate that by fostering financial inclusion and empowerment around the world.” The creator of GoodDollar is also the founder of eToro, a social trading company and platform, which is responsible for investing $1 million in the new cryptocurrency.

How GoodDollar Works

GoodDollar can benefit anyone who signs up and creates an account (a wallet). For that, people need to record a short video to ensure that they are real humans, not bots, and they can complete the entire sign-up process in less than 5 minutes. There are two groups of users, claimers and supporters. Claimers are people who benefit from free digital cash (G$) without the need to invest any amount, being allowed to claim it every day and use it to pay for goods, services and exchange it with friends. Up to now, 255,000 claimants have received G$180 million, totaling more than $20,000. Supporters are both companies or regular people that believe in the UBI cause and fund a mechanism that generates interest (the DeFi — decentralized finance, protocol).

Interest generates in a blockchain, a kind of extremely safe digital information record system, and becomes the reserve of G$ coins to that undergoes distribution among claimers and supporters. The supporters benefit not only from the interest generated by their initial staked amount, but also the interest generated on top of the previous interest rate. Currently, only small businesses accept G$ coins, and they are not very valuable. However, as more people join the GoodDollar movement, its value will rise.

Hope for GoodDollar’s Growth

“Inequality plagues the world. Let’s solve for it in our future,” is a statement on GoodDollar’s website. The company is still in its early stages, but getting ready to release version 2.0 of the GoodDollar protocol. In the first year of the second version, it plans to distribute around $47,000 worth of G$. AI Multiple’s review on GoodDollar points out that, to grow and make a real difference in its users’ lives, GoodDollar needs to have more supporters and a G$ reserve that grows “faster than the number of claimers.”

The more people use this cryptocurrency, the more valuable it will become. If “a public figure sheds a light on it via their social media platforms or accepts it as a payment method for a business product or service, that could boost its popularity.”

A Promising Future

The Forbes article discusses how basic income distribution could help to reduce the financial inequality that the pandemic exacerbated, and the GoodDollar team has been working hard to make it a reality someday. While the future of the project depends on a combination of factors, blockchain solutions like GoodDollar are undeniably promising and revolutionary economic models.

Tal Oron, GoodDollar project director, hopes that within a few years, “GoodDollar [will distribute] $2 a day per person, and, together, as a global community, without government support, raise hundreds of millions of people above the poverty line.” The way that GoodDollar promotes universal basic income will only benefit people globally.

– Iasmine Oliveira
Photo: Flickr

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Togo Opens First Data Center in Lomé

Data Center in LoméIn July 2021, the African country of Togo took another step in its efforts of digital transformation and economic progress as it opened Togo’s first data center in the capital city of Lomé. The construction of the data center in Lomé began three years ago and was funded by a loan from the World Bank and the West Africa Regional Communications Infrastructure Project. The facility is part of the government’s plan for economic development and digital advancement. As Togo attempts to cement itself as a West African hub, Togo has risen about 50 spots in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” report in the last couple of years.

Poverty and Economic Development in Togo

Togo has made strides in growth leading up to 2020, but even pre-pandemic, past poverty levels were still high. More than half of the population has been living under the poverty line for years prior to the pandemic, according to the World Bank. The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation have lent the government a hand in improving conditions for its people by putting resources into the financial, energy, transportation and manufacturing sectors, which played a major role in Togo’s jump from 137th to 97th place in the Doing Business 2020 report.

Digital Transformation of Togo’s Economy

With investments into Togo’s digital economy and infrastructure, the country plans to grow in its wholesale broadband market and cheapen service costs for its people. The government aims for a complete structural reformation of the Togolese economy. In the hopes of job creation and modernization of key institutions, Togo’s data center was constructed as a part of the long-term investment into digital technology.

Hawa Cissé Wagué, the World Bank resident representative for Togo, tells the World Bank that the pandemic has displayed the necessity of increasing Togo’s digital infrastructure in order to improve services and economic productivity. So far, Togo’s data center and its development have mildly restored its reputation and its future looks bright as foreign investment ramps up with a number of prominent banks in the region choosing to operate and do business within Togo.

Impact of the Data Center in Lomé

The secure, quality and reliable nature of the advanced technology makes the investment into the data center significant in the long run for the Togolese economy. The locally stationed data center will directly impact the surrounding community by providing employment opportunities within the facility itself but it will also have a ripple effect and extend throughout the country, according to government plans. Distributed data centers offer lower transaction costs as well as convenience when it comes to digital regulations. The centers also come with lower geopolitical risks and are safer for data storage.

– Gene Kang
Photo: Flickr