MBABANE – The Minister of Information, Communications and Technology, Savannah Maziya, has called for the immediate prioritisation of digital literacy to ensure Eswatini’s relevance in the global technological landscape.
Speaking on January 30 at The Access Code – Umcebo Wakusasa Workshop, Minister Maziya mentioned the critical role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the current economic era. The event was organised in collaboration with the Innovators Association of Eswatini (IAE) with support from the Royal Science and Technology Park and UNDP Eswatini.
During the workshop, Minister Maziya emphasised a national target of 300 000 digitally skilled citizens to ensure Eswatini’s competitiveness in the global digital economy. “300 000 Coders and AI Practioners , that is where we are headed. I need 300 000 people in a country of 1.2 million people, I remember when I sat in the office with the team and said we are going to have a programme called Government In Your Hand, everybody said ‘she dreaming and crazy’, I like to be crazy, crazy is success, crazy and seeing things that others do not see is success,” she said.
She also characterised the current period as an innovative movement: “This is the African century.
If we do not take advantage of this AI stage, we render ourselves irrelevant. This is our time as Eswatini. We as Emaswati can be successful if we focus on building each other, building ourselves and building our country” she said.
The Minister’s remarks highlighted a strategic shift towards self-reliance. The minister encouraged emaSwati to take up the chance, believing in themselves and investing in themselves. “Take the opportunity to be coder, to be an AI expert and ensure that you are participating in your future,” she said.
The minister reaffirmed the Government of Eswatini’s commitment to human capital development through specialised programmes. Specifically, she cited Coders Eswatini as a primary vehicle for empowering citizens, calling on citizens to invest in skills that will secure Eswatini’s digital future.
… confirms for Banele WJLM’s Podcast
The Minister for Information, Communications and Technology (ICT), Savannah Maziya, has officially agreed to appear as a guest on Banele WJLM’s podcast.
The agreement was reached following the Access Code – Umcebo Wakusasa Workshop, which was held at the Royal Science and Technology Park at Nokwane.
The workshop, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Innovators Association of Eswatini, focused on equipping young emaSwati with AI and coding skills.
According to Banele WJLM, the host of the podcast, he was an invited participant at the workshop. The interaction between the minister and the podcaster occurred on-site at the RSTP facilities following the event’s formal proceedings.
The minister, confirming her appearance to the podcast, said: “It is official, I am coming, I am ready for a date,” she said.
In an interview with Banele WJLM, he mentioned that he posted on his social media pages that if the public had a question they would like him to ask the minister, they should drop it in the comment section.
“Analysing the comments, most of them were about asking the minister that many content creators in Eswatini are unable to monetise their work on major global platforms, as the government are there plans to develop the national digital content or creator economy policy,” he said.
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