Africa Innovation Summit II Special side event on “Innovations in Electoral Democracy in Africa”

A nation’s ability to raise its productivity and compete in the global market, its growth and income sustainably over the long term depends largely on its capacity to innovate. This is crucial if they are to advance to that next level and significantly benefit from some of the vibrant cultures of innovation that are emerging within various communities on the continent.

The second edition of Africa Innovation Summit, (AIS 2018) (www.AfricaInnovationSummit.com), which will take place from 6-8 June 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda under the esteemed patronage of His Excellences President Paul Kagame, Chairman of the African Union and Pedro Pires (ex-President of Cabo Verde) will focus on innovation as a tool to address Africa’s pressing challenges, such as poverty, health, education, food security and Good Governance. The AIS is about seeking disruptive solutions to Africa’s challenges. Importantly, innovation, for the AIS, is not just about science and technology, it encompasses all sectors.

Innovations are happening on many fronts on the continent to promote credible as well as free and fair elections. Over the last 5 years, electoral bodies in collaboration with experts have begun implementing new ideas and technologies. It is therefore incumbent on Africans to seek creative and innovative ways to ensure free and fair elections on the Continent.

The Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), The International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) and Africa Innovation Summit (AIS) are pleased to announce that they will jointly organize a special side event on “Innovations in Electoral Democracy in Africa” during the second Africa Innovation Summit (AIS 2018). Specifically, the one-day special event will focus on three critical areas: The application of block chain technology to elections, new tools for collating and transfer of election results securely, and participation in elections. The special session will explore not only the last five years but also trends for the future, while proposing ideas for African countries on the way forward. The idea is to seek innovative ways to ensure that each vote counts and that the voting process, the counting/collation and reporting are transparent, and that the process leading to and during the elections is fair. The session will provide an opportunity to undertake a dialogue that cut across sectors and interests, identify innovative solutions, share experiences among African countries, and to create coalitions able to advance with the agenda of innovating to address the challenge of organizing free and fair elections in Africa.

The AIS aims to contribute in the building of vigorous national ecosystems, to promote innovation in African countries and to provide a robust and dynamic platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue as well as a catalyst for “Made in Africa” innovations that are already addressing the challenges faced on the continent, but need assistance to take root and scale up.

IDEA’s mission is to support sustainable democracy worldwide through providing comparative knowledge, assisting in democratic reform, and influencing policies and politics. It does this by producing and sharing comparative knowledge on the different aspects of democracy and by acting as a facilitator for the exchange of ideas and experiences on democracy.

OIF organises political activities and actions of multilateral cooperation that benefit French-speaking populations. One of the OIF’s mission is to facilitate the holding of free, reliable and transparent elections, and support for all stages of the electoral process.