Africa’s mobile giants launch Covid-19 plan

Africa's biggest mobile operators have pulled together,  for the first time, to launch a health platform.

The two-way Big Data analytics platform seeks to link up to 800 million citizens in the continent with their governments.

Safaricom, MTN, Vodacom, Airtel and Orange will work together to implement the Africa Communication and Information Platform (ACIP) for Health and Economic Action project that will rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse a combination of online digital data, as well as mobile based information.

The innovation will further provide the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), all national Covid-19 task forces in the 54 states, ministries of Health, Finance, Economy and Planning, and other stakeholders with analysis of live data for decision-making, monitoring and evaluation.

PRIVATE DATA

The data to be collected on your phone includes location details, texts, images, video or audio, information on friends and/or relatives suffering from Covid-19 to help in analysis of the disease across different demographics.

Phones and tablets will all be monitored for the spread of the pandemic, with data privacy being protected by individual governments. The Kenya Data Protection Act of 2019 allows exemptions for the state to get access to citizen private data to help solve a matter of public interest or national security.

The project will also allow for real-time data insights, improve linkage of government and research centres with citizens, and assist in analysing the broader socio-economic situation of populations, and identification and targeting of policies.

"With this platform, we have the possibility of reaching between 600 million and 800 million mobile subscribers in Africa," said Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary ECA, during the launch of ACIP.

The solution furnishes national disease task forces with user-generated survey data and health and economic insights that will enable authorities to better analyse pandemic-related problems and implement appropriate responses.

DISEASE SURVEILLANCE

Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC, said the platform offered a "unique opportunity to change the way we conduct disease surveillance, enhance our ability to acquire good and timely data, and make all Africans count”.

The launch was presided over by President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo.  "It responds to member states' requests for help in collecting and processing essential data to respond effectively to Covid-19," he said.

President Alpha Condé of Guinea pledged to make sure that all 55 AU member states were part of the initiative. "The uncertainties around Covid-19 make a strong case for Africa to speedily embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution, ensuring better internet access and affordability,” said the president.

Songwe deplored the state and high cost of internet access in Africa, stating that in an era of pandemic and economic crisis, it had become more difficult for people to spend the little resources they had to pay for internet access.

While ECA is working with key stakeholders to solve the problem of internet access, reliability, and cost, the ACIP can already reach over 80 per cent of Africa's mobile users without adding the burden of cost on them. "We, as operators, can waive the charges for USSD because chances are that many people battling the pandemic in some rural areas may not have airtime," said Robert Shuter, chief executive of MTN. He said the uniqueness of the ACIP initiative got MTN and its competitors to agree that it needed collaboration and cooperation.

Shuter said the technology can be used on any handset.