2019
Africa has been the site of numerous projects that have attempted to improve standards of living across national borders. These are complex tasks with no shortage of complications, making success elusive. Because of this many are turning towards innovation in search of an answer. People like Isabel dos Santos sees technology as the saving grace for a continent eager to modernize. Isabel dos Santos was a featured speaker at the “Africa and Emerging Technology” talk held by the European Parliament. There she shared her professional experiences as a entrepreneur working in Africa and the chairwoman for Unitel, the biggest mobile telecom in Angola.
Working with communications, she’s keenly aware of infrastructure challenges of the past, and that realization informed how cell phone towers were installed in recent years. Mobile connections and internet speeds are more reliable and modern than before. Whether in the city or out in the country, communication is freer. That’s a signal for Isabel dos Santos to redirect her expertise efforts to the next big project powered by the internet, e-commerce. Unitel’s goals here move beyond simple online transactions and open up bank availability for people who can now go online for the first time. But to realize these goals she stressed the need for her robust plans to see things through.
This could bring cities to the modern era, making public transportation a staple in everyday traffic, bring goods faster and in greater number to businesses, and inviting communities to be better stewards of their immediate environment. As a successful entrepreneur, Isabel dos Santos has moved through several industries, namely telecommunications and finance. Experience in different settings have informed her opinions about business and society. It’s also built up her business acumen to the point where she’s partnering with Google. Unitel and the search engine giants will be working with fiber optic cables, setting them underwater so the people in Angola, and throughout Africa, can connect directly with other continents. Isabel dos Santos seen technology as a catalyst that’ll take Africa to a future with more reliable data transfer and stronger communication, taking Africa to the next rung of intercontinental participation.