Contributing to Africa's sustainable development and digital transformation in accordance with Agenda 2063 and the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa 2020–2030
About
About the Program
In 2022, the HSE Center for African Studies launched the e-Governance Knowledge Sharing Program, primarily focused on Africa and aimed at sharing the experience of developing and implementing e-Governance solutions between Russian and African institutions. The knowledge sharing is to be carried out in the field of digital transformation of public administration, covering its theoretical aspect, regulatory framework, technologies and platforms, international rankings, trends, etc.
Digital development and digital transformation of public administration were suggested among the most promising avenues of knowledge-sharing on the first stage of the Program, with the focus on industry standards and strategies development promoting sustainability of institutions and quality of governance.
The format of knowledge sharing will allow the exchange of experience of development and deployment of e-governance platforms in the African countries. The participants will also get the opportunity to become acquainted with the state of the art solutions and their developers.
Under the Program HSE Center for African Studies launched the e-Governance Knowledge Hub for Africa with country profiles and challenges registry accompanied by the relevant solutions from various fields of e-governance.
See analyticsProgram objectives
Strengthening the digital sovereignty of African Governments
Supporting dissemination of best practices and improving systems of public administration
Promoting bilateral as well as multilateral cooperation and trade between Russia and African countries
Program Log
2022
April 13
The Program concept was first presented at a roundtable of the XXIII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development in the presence of African diplomats and experts.
December 15
A roundtable on digital transformation of public administration marked the practical launch of Program discussions.
2024
October 9-11
Participation in the Africa World Summit on the Information Society (Africa WSIS+20) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Exchanging copies of the three-year agreement on strategic cooperation with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
November 9-10
Profile session “Knowledge Sharing: Capacity Building in e-Governance” during the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum in Sochi, Russia. Participation of 4 Ministers of ICT, officials from the UNECA and ECCAS,
November 20-22
Profile session “Capacity Building in E-Governance through Knowledge Sharing” during the XIII African Internet Governance Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Participation of representatives of the ITU and the ICANN.
December 10
Organization of 4 workshops session on e-governance in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Participation of 34 people in person (including 13 representatives from 9 African countries) and more than 40 people via videoconferencing, including African and Russian officials, members of international organizations and employees of leading Russian IT companies.
2023
July 28
The Program was presented at the Second Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in St. Petersburg.
December 18
The HSE Center for African Studies organized the Winter E-Governance Knowledge Sharing Week for African officials and experts. Participation of 44 top and middle-level civil servants from 23 African countries, international and regional organizations. Presentation of the "E-Governance in Africa 2024: Opportunities and Challenges” handbook
2025
April 14-16
Cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and the Digital Economy of the Republic of Congo, on GITEX Africa 2025 sidelines, Marrakech, Morocco.
May 14-16
Participation in the World Summit on the Information Society in Africa (WSIS+20) in Cotonou, Benin. Presentation of the Program during the “Continental and regional programs: Digital cooperation and harmonization” session.
May 20
Participation in the International Security Conference on Africa (ISCA) in Kigali, Rwanda. Discussion on Africa's strategic position in global supply chains of critical raw materials, necessary for the development of digital technologies.
June 5-6
Profile session “Russia-Africa: Cooperation for Digital Sovereignty” during the Global Digital Forum in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Cooperation agreements with the Universal Digital Services Fund (FDSUT) of Senegal and the University of Gondar, Ethiopia.
July 28
Cooperation agreement with Tanzania ICT Commission on the sidelines of the 1st Tanzania Artificial Intelligence Forum 2025, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
October 8
Cooperation agreement with Makerere University of Uganda. Commitment on academic exchanges, joint expert and analytical work.
November 20
Roundtable discussion on digital solutions for ensuring food sovereignty in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Presentation of the “Food for Africa: On the Way to Food Sovereignty” report.
Partners
RF
Government of the Russian Federation
Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation
Ministry of Digital Development of Russia
MFA
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Our team
Advisory Board
Contributors
Andrey Maslov
Coordinator of the Program, Director of the HSE Center for African Studies
Vsevolod Sviridov
Leading Expert for the Program and Coordinator of the Hub, Deputy Director of the HSE Center for African Studies
Polina Slyusarchuk
Administrative Director of the Program, Deputy Director of the HSE Center for African Studies
Maksim Zalyvsky
Deputy Coordinator of the Program, Head of the Project of the HSE Center for African Studies
Nikolai Golovko
Editorial Coordinator of the Hub, Expert of the HSE Center for African Studies
Daria Sukhova
Researcher for the Program and the Hub
Olga Suckhanovskaya
Manager of the Hub, Expert of the HSE Center for African Studies
Sophia Drozdova
Research fellow of the HSE Center for African Studies