Zambia's Felix Mutati: Building digital skills requires teachers, willing learners, and sustained investment

Gavin Allen: How is Zambia responding to the global talent gap? 

Felix Mutati: You're right, it's a global challenge, and from an African and a Zambian perspective, then it’s even bigger. Last year, we carried out an assessment of our digital preparedness as an economy. We found that we are at just 54%    preparedness.

But most of that was around building the infrastructure. When you looked at the digital skills pillar, we were at 34%. That gives you the extent of the heavy lifting we’ve got to do. 

Key challenges are getting connectivity right across the country, devising the infrastructure to support the delivery of skills, and addressing the inadequacy of those who are supposed to impart the skills to kids and everybody else.

But what I find much more interesting is the issue of just being afraid to be digital. You can't begin to train somebody who is totally reluctant to be trained. And that is a bigger problem that we have got to solve, particularly when it comes to girls: the suspicion of digital – being afraid and hanging onto the status quo.  

Gavin Allen: What are the societal and economic impacts of so many girls and women not getting those skills?

Felix Mutati: The impact is telling. You're getting kids who come out of the education system digitally illiterate. In most of our schools, absence of devices such as computers is obviously a major challenge. But much more critical is to have adequate and well-trained teachers who can impart those skills at an early age. So, working with colleagues at the Ministry of Education, and supported by one of the UN bodies, this year we are re-training about 3,500 teachers across the country, equipping them with the tools they need to impart the skills to the kids. We are connecting all the secondary schools in Zambia to the internet. And all the fees required to be paid to go to secondary school have been extinguished. So, it's free education.

Interestingly, we are seeing that most transactions now, like money transfers, are being done digitally. People are upgrading their skills. They have no choice but to retool themselves in order to access government services, banking and so on. We are narrowing the spaces where you can avoid digital. 

We're also doing something on the innovation side. Yesterday, we were giving an award to a young lady who has developed a payment platform for peer-to-peer lending and investment, cutting out the banks in the middle. If you invest, you get higher returns, because there’s no bank in between.

She launched the platform a year-and-a-half ago with only 100 people on the books. By yesterday she'd got over 25,000. That exponential growth is part of the exposure you need, to demonstrate that digital actually benefits you and to encourage people to say, “I'm going to join this digital world.”

Two weeks ago, after one of our big regional banks in Africa advertised for the best innovation ideas, they had over 300 young kids pitching to compete for five places. It just shows you what a great opportunity we can give to people. When we celebrate these innovators – real people you’re able to connect to – we are publicly sending a message to everybody that it pays for you to be skilled because you can make money. It is hard work. It requires patience. It requires persistence. But at the end of the day, you'll be able to reap the dividends. 

Gavin Allen: How important are public-private collaborations in encouraging people to innovate, such as President Hakainde Hichilema’s Talent Innovation Fund sponsored by Huawei? 

Felix Mutati: In the innovation space, you cannot succeed without public-private partnership.

It combines the strength of government as an enabler, with the resources, creativity and speed of the private sector. The HH Fund gives $1,000 each to 50 kids, and that type of inspiration is very contagious and pulls a lot more people into the digital space. In addition, we're creating a digital hub sponsored by Huawei to nurture and train this talent.

Government alone doesn’t have the capability and resources to deliver innovation in-house. But our intention is that the first center of excellence, this innovation hub, must deliver appropriate technology. First, deliver Web 3.0 and second, artificial intelligence and the tools that are required, because that's where the future is. And working with Huawei, I think that is a cup of tea. 

But equally important is the opportunity this scholarship gives for those talented kids to go and be trained in China with the best. When they do come back, goodness basically rubs off. So, it's an outlet of hope: a practical lift-off of talent. And the fact that it's been endorsed by the president gives it much more impact.

Gavin Allen: Does having these partnerships with companies such as Huawei make you feel optimistic about Zambia’s ability to close this digital skills gap?

Felix Mutati: It gives me confidence. Confidence derived from the numbers who applied to join the competition – huge, huge numbers. Confidence that they are able to see practical outcomes if the kids are given $1,000 each. Confidence that the very good ones will be taken into China for further in-depth learning. It gives me confidence that we are on the right track, that we have a partner that is clear in their direction and putting back into the economy and lifting up our innovation talent. We haven't had this type of initiative before – it’s the first one that is delivering on a practical basis. We have had intentions and plans, but this has landed. The digital eagle has landed and it’s about to fly.

Gavin Allen: Finally, what is your message to young Zambians out there on the importance of being the skilled workers of the future?

Felix Mutati: My message is very clear. In the future, if you are digitally illiterate you'll be left behind. My message to the kids is that the jobs of tomorrow are going to be digital. My message to the kids is that if you want to build the future for yourselves, you’ve got to embrace technology, and you can't embrace technology if you don't have the tools that are available through digital. So whether you like it or not, digital is infectious. It is a bug without a cure. It will catch you.