Zambia and Mauritius Chart Course for Digital Future

Zambia and Mauritius have pledged to deepen cooperation in the information and communications technology sector, with both nations identifying digital transformation as the cornerstone of Africa's economic future.

Speaking at the Zambia-Mauritius ICT Business Forum convened by the Zambia Development Agency in Lusaka, Science and Technology Minister Felix Mutati outlined the ambition driving the partnership. Mauritius, he noted, had built a formidable digital economy, with expertise spanning fintech, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — precisely the disciplines Zambia seeks to cultivate as it accelerates its own technological development.

The figures Mutati cited were striking. In Mauritius, the ICT sector now accounts for half of national GDP, a transformation achieved, he argued, through deliberate and structured government policy. Zambia's own Ministry of Science and Technology, established in 2021, is following a similar blueprint, and the forum represented an opportunity to compress years of learning into a focused bilateral exchange.

Mauritius' Minister of Information and Technology, Dr Avinash Ramtohul, extended a confident invitation to African nations to view his country as a trusted regional partner. With full mobile penetration, strong cybersecurity credentials and an ambitious data centre programme designed to serve both governments and private enterprises across the continent, Mauritius presents itself as a natural bridge between Asian technological capability and African ambition.

The vision, as both ministers articulated it, is one of South-South solidarity with tangible returns.

The promise of digital transformation has a habit of sounding abstract until it is not. New industries, accessible financial services and an economy less hostage to the price of copper are outcomes measured not in ministerial communiqués, but in livelihoods, and it is there, ultimately, that this partnership will be judged.