Cina Lawson
Minister for the Digital Economy

Togo’s Minister for the Digital Economy since 2010, Cina Lawson gained international recognition during the COVID-19 pandemic after launching Novissi, an emergency cash transfer programme that provided direct financial support to the country’s most vulnerable citizens. Today, she is leading an ambitious digital transformation agenda that includes deploying AI-powered agents across Togo’s education system and accelerating the digitalisation of every government ministry. Lawson believes that West Africa’s technological future depends on regional cooperation. She has called on neighbouring countries to pool resources in order to develop high-performance AI data centres, while also advocating for common standards on data sharing and AI governance. “Data sharing and AI governance must be harmonised at the regional level to support the emergence of an integrated digital market,” she argues.