Cina Lawson

Cina Lawson is a Togolese politician, currently serving as Minister of Digital Economy and Digital Transformation, a role she has occupied since 2010.Educated at Sciences Po and Harvard University, Lawson worked in telecommunications before her appointment to the government office, where she spearheaded numerous digitization and ICT initiatives.

Quotes

• We define our priorities, and then we look for partners with the required expertise and ability to execute, depending on which project we want to push.
  • [1]
• We did not want to only buy the equipment’s and trainings from a partner because delivering the service, is a different skill set that requires practice, understanding the commercial and technical aspects of it, and, most importantly, building trust.
  • [2]
• Deals maybe poorly structured not necessarily because that the people in charge are dishonest but because they may not know how to execute well.
  • [3]
• While other countries and partners may have different business models, we prioritize identifying the specific project structure we need and searching for partners who can offer it.
  • [4]
• in our view, knowledge transfer requires thorough operational training, and we need to consider this in the deals we enter with partners for national projects.
  • [5]
• There is no room for improvisation; a team of people with the right expertise in their fields is essential.
  • [6]
• In Africa, we must specialise in checking the credentials of every person we hire and emphasise structuring a highly skilled execution team. Executing a deal well requires thorough collaboration among many people.
  • [7]
• If we don't function this way and come together with an aligned agenda, decisions that affect us will be made without our input.
  • [8]