Mastercard, in collaboration with the US-Africa Business Center, will host a roundtable discussion exploring the creation of inclusive and competitive digital ecosystems in Africa. This private roundtable aims to spark a focused discussion on how to achieve competitive digital ecosystems in Africa. Key areas of exploration will include trends in digital transformation in Africa, the role of the governments in developing digital ecosystems, the nature of competition in the digital economy, and approaches to promoting competitive ecosystems

The roundtable, which will feature Mastercard Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Azzam Alameddin, will bring together select participants from the public, private, and civil society sectors for a dynamic exchange of ideas on these crucial themes. We look forward to your participation.

Mastercard will host a roundtable discussion aimed at exploring and assessing approaches to measuring the success of digital transformation initiatives.

Approaches to digitization are as diverse as the countries that are implementing them. New trends, such as digital public infrastructure, are endorsed by countries and the development community as a promising approach to achieving digital inclusion at population scale. Yet, the frameworks for evaluating the success or otherwise of digital development initiatives is still taking shape. Multistakeholder discussion is needed to ensure that the implementation of digital transformation programs delivers on the digital transformation promise.

The Roundtable, which will feature Mastercard Chief Services Officer, Craig Vosburg and Mastercard Chief Government Affairs and Policy Officer Tucker Foote, will bring together stakeholders from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors to foster a holistic conversation on what makes digital development successful and how to measure that success.

The US Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a presentation and discussion on the World Bank's new flagship report, Business Ready (B-READY). This year's report covers 50 countries and provides a comprehensive overview of the rules and regulations that businesses must navigate as they open, operate, expand, and close. It also highlights the facilities governments offer to support regulatory compliance and the ease of using public services relevant to businesses.

The panel discussion will feature Mastercard Vice President, Global Government Affairs, Heba Shams, along with the US Chamber’s Norman Loayza and Curtis Dubay, Singapore’s Second Minister for Finance and National Development Indranee Thurai Rajah, and Cisco’s Nicole Isaac.