“We have a responsibility to work together to develop our countries. We have a responsibility to make the technologies and energy resources under our purview accessible to the people living in our countries, so that through them they can run their businesses, lead their lives, and generate wealth. It is a great responsibility,” he declared.
Américo Muchanga was speaking in Maputo at the opening of the 33rd forum of the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) for Portuguese-speaking communities, having acknowledged the role of communications in keeping a country “united and informed.”
“We have a very important responsibility in this process [of digital transformation],” emphasized Américo Muchanga, noting that we must move forward with digitization to democratize access to information, thereby enabling democratic participation across the Portuguese-speaking world.
He acknowledged the importance of this sector for society and the economy, so that countries can be competitive, calling for private-sector participation in expanding this infrastructure, especially in rural areas of Portuguese-speaking countries.
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“You are part of the digital transformation pillar, particularly the digital infrastructure pillar. Without this infrastructure, even if digital systems are established in data centers, (…) it is not possible to connect citizens,” said Américo Muchanga, highlighting the importance of various forms of communication, including the postal service, television, the internet, and postal services.
During the two-day event, the minister acknowledged the challenges of expanding high-quality digital services in rural areas of Mozambique, urging participants to reflect on what needs to be done to support the development of Portuguese-speaking countries.
“It is not possible to ensure that someone in Nipepe [a district in northern Mozambique] can have the same type of service, with the same quality, as someone here in this room. But if we get communications working as they should, a citizen in Nipepe can also enjoy the same privileges and benefits as someone here in the city,” he added.
