Cina Lawson


Cina Lawson is a Togolese politician.
On the 17th of September 2013, she was appointed Minister of Postal Affairs and Digital Economy. She has held this position ever since.
In March 2012, she was named "young global leader" by the World Economic Forum in Davos. She was also featured in Forbes's top 20 "Youngest power women in Africa" two times, in 2012 and in 2014.
In May 2013, the news outlet Jeune Afrique ranked her as one of the 25 most influential women for business in Africa.
In 2016, she was featured in the top 55 African Doers by Tropics magazine, among other actors which contribute to the continent's dynamism.
In January 2019, Cina Lawson received the award for Most Innovative Person of the year at the Napoléons, the innovative communications network for leading players in business, media and culture based in France.
In May 2019, Cina Lawson was honoured by her alma mater and received the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Public Service Award. The award was given in recognition of her public service record as a minister in Togo, notably, her contribution to the development of the country's digital economy and ICT sector. She is the first African woman political figure to receive the award since it was established in 1997.

Education

In 1996, Cina Lawson graduated from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris after two years of studies in the economic and financial program. She then obtained a masters of advanced studies in Applied Economics. She also holds a degree in History from the University Paris X.
Cina Lawson then continued her studies in the United States, where she received a master in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Career

Lawson began her career in the communication and information technology department of the World Bank, in Washington DC. There, she advised governments on various matters such as telecom policies, regulatory reforms or privatization.
She also worked as consultant for Alcatel-Lucent in Paris. From 2006 to 2010, she worked for France Telecom North America in their business development department.
On the 28th of May 2010, she was appointed Minister of Post and Telecommunications of the Togolese Republic by Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo. She kept the position under the Kwesi Ahoomey-Zunu administration.
In 2013, her portfolio expands to include digital affairs. This change denotes the will of the Togolese government to use information and communications technologies as a tool for economic development. As of 2019, her portfolio expanded again to include technological innovation. She is thus the Minister of Post, Digital Economy and Technological Innovation under the administration of Prime Minister Komi Sélom Klassou.
While in office, Cina Lawson contributed to the development of Togo's digital administration, to the integration of ICT in the education system, and to the reduction of the digital divide. She also initiated reforms to strengthen competition in the telecommunications sector. Licenses were issued in 2017 for two new Internet service providers, TEOLIS SA and Group Vivendi Africa and two more were extended to include 4G in June 2018 to the mobile operators, Moov Togo and Togo Cellulaire.
She also strived to modernize the regulatory framework surrounding electronic communications, electronic transactions, setting up an environment that fosters cyber commerce and facilitates the digitization of administrative proceeding which ensures the establishment of basic legal principles. In 2019, she led the passing of a new data protection law in Togo as well as the privatisation of the historic telecommunications operator, Togocom.

Achievements

E-government

Cina Lawson has worked to install a fiber optic network of 250km in Lomé, connecting buildings which harbors public administrations, hospitals and university while giving them access to high speed internet. She also initiated several projects, including the creation of a professional email platform for government officials and of a unique internet portal for the administration: www.togo.tg. This portal combines the websites of the President, the minister, the official journal and the digitalized public services.
To better connect small localities and the central government, Cina Lawson launched the "E-Village" initiative, which provided more than 4300 local leaders with a professional mobile phone, a sim card and phone credit. This was completed by the creation of an innovative platform which collects, analyses and treats information.

Education

The initiative Wifi Campus, launched in January 2018 enabled the deployment of a fiber optic network over university campuses and teaching hospitals in Lomé and Kara, in order to better connect them.
She also carried out in June 2018 the initiative "Environnement Numérique de Travail" in all technical and scientific high schools. Educational resources were updated and a platform was set up for teachers, students and the whole staff to access information and educational services.

Digital and financial inclusion

Regarding agriculture, the project Agri-PME directed by Cina Lawson has since 2015 led to the identification of vulnerable farmers and to the digitization of the annual payment of their subsidies for fertilizers.
Cina Lawson contributed ton the presidential initiative CIZO, launched in November 2017, which sought to expand access to electricity through the provision of individual solar kits with basic electric equipment. The payment is done through a pay as you go system.
Under her influence, the Togolese Post Society launched in May 2018 the ECO CCP account, which is the first saving account that is free, available on mobile phone and remunerated within the UEMOA.

Restructuring and privatisation of Togocom

Cina Lawson is also committed to the strengthening of the sector's governance, through the establishment of news specialized independent institutions, and the National Agency on the Radiofrequency spectrum.
In July 2017, she initiated the restructuring of Togo's historic fixed telecommunications operator Togo Telecom and its mobile arm Togocel. This reorganisation led to sweeping changes in the internal structure of the operators and their fusion into a single holding, Togocom Group. In 2018, Cina Lawson led the opening of Togocom Group to private investment paving the way for the privatisation of the state-run operators.
In November 2019, the Togolese Government announced the completion of privatisation with the acceptance of a bid by Agou Holding to acquire a 51% stake in Togocom Group. As the new majority stakeholder, Agou Holding, a consortium composed of Madagascar's Axian Group and Africa-focused private equity firm Emerging Capital Partners, plans to revamp Togocom's service delivery with a $214 million investment over the next seven years. The closing of the deal left Togocom with an enterprise value of over $353 million. In a press statement following the announcement, Cina Lawson stated that the deal "marks a crucial step in the government's digital roadmap."

Youth Entrepreneurship

In 2013, Cina Lawson launches, with Claude Grunitzky, the Togo Youth Entrepreneur Forum.
In order to foster computer programming among young population, she launched a national contest of app development called Appstogo. In this perspective, Togo was also represented at the event Africa Code Week.

Cybersecurity

In an interview with La Tribune in March 2019, Cina Lawson stressed the need to train more Togolese experts in cybersecurity. During the 7th edition of the in Kigali, Rwanda, Cina Lawson announced the launch of a new cybersecurity institution for Togo called Cyber Defense Africa which will be the first in Africa to combine two cyber security functions: National Security Operation Centre and Computer Emergency Response Team.
The joint-venture between the Government of Togo and Asseco Data Systems, a leading Polish IT firm, will provide state-of-the-art cybersecurity to citizens, public and private organisations in Togo and the sub-region. It will also provide the necessary training to create a body of African cybersecurity experts.

BLOC Fund

As a keen supporter of disruptive technologies and approaches to impact investment and financial inclusion, Cina Lawson was pivotal to the establishment of the BLOC Fund with and , which she announced during the 7th in March 2019.
BLOC Fund is a pioneering impact fund in Africa and the first of its kind in the world to use blended finance to exclusively invest in companies that use new technologies, particularly blockchain, to solve social and economic challenges for the benefit of low- and middle-income populations in developing countries. Cina has stated that Togo invested into the fund “to foster the development of tech companies, which are focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals” and “to support local tech entrepreneurs to grow their businesses by providing them capital and tech expertise.