Developing Countries: Digital Technology

(asked on 20th October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the potential of digital trade to aid economic recovery from COVID-19, and (2) the digital divide between the UK and developing countries; and what plans they have to increase their spending on communication and digitisation capacity building to more than 0.2 per cent of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's total budget.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 2nd November 2020

Digital trade can support economic recovery by enabling more trade to continue during global lockdowns and by opening new trading opportunities which the UK also stands to benefit from. During the COVID-19 pandemic we have been supporting businesses to adapt to the challenges of operating online. For example, our 'SheTrades Commonwealth' programme is helping women-owned businesses in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Bangladesh to use digital platforms to market their products and maintain relationships with clients remotely.

There is a deep global digital divide. For example, only 19% of individuals in the least developed countries are estimated to have internet access, while 91% of all UK adults have recently used the internet. The UK Government is investing in programmes that increase digital inclusion in developing countries and emerging markets. This includes the Digital Access Programme which is working in five countries to address the fundamental constraints to digital inclusion, build cybersecurity capacity and support local digital economies, with a focus on underserved communities. Future spending plans on communication and digitisation capacity building, and in all other areas, will depend on the outcome of the ongoing Spending Review.

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