VP of Seychelles Discusses Nation’s Tech Boom at Cybertech Africa
H.E. Ahmed Afif, Vice President, Republic of Seychelles, spoke about the opportunities and challenges unique to the tiny, isolated country
Mandi Kogosowski
| 20/08/2023
Photo: Cybertech Africa
“Cybertechnology – perhaps ‘wow’ is a good way to describe what it is all about. It has changed our lives, how we communicate, how we do business, how we keep our information, how we share it, it’s just a revolution,” the Vice President of the Republic of Seychelles, H.E. Ahmed Afif, recently said.
Speaking at the top of Cybertech Africa, which took place earlier this month in Kigali, Rwanda, Afif noted how the world has evolved over the past few decades – from transferring money to ordering a cab to going to the supermarket.
“The opportunities are huge,” Afif said, providing a pertinent example of the Seychelles health system.
“In a small country like Seychelles, with 100,000 people, skills in the health specialist area are very limited,” Afif said. “But what you find is that when a surgeon has to carry out an operation, now with digital technology you can have specialists around the world following the surgery. This is revolutionary.”
The Vice President also spoke about the importance of data security, noting that Seychelles enacted its Data Protection Act earlier this year. The act, he said, “provides all the modern provisions to ensure that everyone’s data is protected, that your rights are protected, and that you also have access to information that is held about you.”
As an isolated nation 1,000 km off the coast of Africa, Seychelles relies on fishing and tourism as its main sources of income. Yet, Afif noted the prevalence of technology in the small nation, which include three submarine cables, the last one laid this year.
“As you can imagine, with over 50-60 million dollars invested in just cabling, technology doesn’t come cheap to a small country,” he said.
The island nation’s 100,000 residents reside in approximately 35,000 households. Out of which, some 30,000 are connected to cable tv, and 3,000 more have satellites. There are also some 183 thousand mobile subscribers, said the Vice President, an average of almost two phones per person, 45,000 broadband subscribers, and 94,000 mobile broadband subscribers.
H.E. Ahmed Afif, Vice President, Republic of Seychelles, spoke about the opportunities and challenges unique to the tiny, isolated country
Photo: Cybertech Africa
“Cybertechnology – perhaps ‘wow’ is a good way to describe what it is all about. It has changed our lives, how we communicate, how we do business, how we keep our information, how we share it, it’s just a revolution,” the Vice President of the Republic of Seychelles, H.E. Ahmed Afif, recently said.
Speaking at the top of Cybertech Africa, which took place earlier this month in Kigali, Rwanda, Afif noted how the world has evolved over the past few decades – from transferring money to ordering a cab to going to the supermarket.
“The opportunities are huge,” Afif said, providing a pertinent example of the Seychelles health system.
“In a small country like Seychelles, with 100,000 people, skills in the health specialist area are very limited,” Afif said. “But what you find is that when a surgeon has to carry out an operation, now with digital technology you can have specialists around the world following the surgery. This is revolutionary.”
The Vice President also spoke about the importance of data security, noting that Seychelles enacted its Data Protection Act earlier this year. The act, he said, “provides all the modern provisions to ensure that everyone’s data is protected, that your rights are protected, and that you also have access to information that is held about you.”
As an isolated nation 1,000 km off the coast of Africa, Seychelles relies on fishing and tourism as its main sources of income. Yet, Afif noted the prevalence of technology in the small nation, which include three submarine cables, the last one laid this year.
“As you can imagine, with over 50-60 million dollars invested in just cabling, technology doesn’t come cheap to a small country,” he said.
The island nation’s 100,000 residents reside in approximately 35,000 households. Out of which, some 30,000 are connected to cable tv, and 3,000 more have satellites. There are also some 183 thousand mobile subscribers, said the Vice President, an average of almost two phones per person, 45,000 broadband subscribers, and 94,000 mobile broadband subscribers.
