Embracing digital transformation to realize our potential
“Thus she has lain / Black through the years / Over the white seas / Rime white and cold.
Brigands ungentled / Icicle bold / Took her young daughters / Sold her strong sons.
Now she is rising / Remember her pain / Remember the losses / Her screams loud and vain”
This remarkable poem by Maya Angelou, from which I share some excerpts, masterfully captures the pain and struggling our continent has persisted. It highlights our resilience, mixing lamentation with celebration to replicate the strength and pride of Africa. This sentiment will forever be part of our historical past.
The pains of lamentation have became cries of get up that led us to the struggles for National Liberation, the conquest of our sovereignty, and subsequently the substantial challenge of rebuilding societies with serious basic survival challenges where access to essential goods, healthcare, and education unruffled today constitute barriers to our increase.
International aid, meaning external to the African continent, has been the mannequin adopted practically since the independence actions. Africa has grown in its essential indicators, although the hasten of this evolution has not allowed us to ambitiously cross beyond survival challenges in a structured and confident manner.
On the other hand, I reflect that Africa, supported by its trajectory, must aspire to a contemporary poem. The lamentation and celebration of our toddle will persist in the reports that generations will retain alive. But across the four corners of the world, there is the vibration of a dynamic planet, rotund of activities where great imbalances persist. Between the cycle of raw material capture, transformation, and wealth creation that promotes regional increase, the African continent displays the contradiction of possessing valuable of the raw material without it impacting its increase in a commensurate way. Yes, Africa wants to aspire to increase equivalent to its potential. A contemporary poem from a aware Africa should upward thrust and echo in every home, faculty, and narrative about our continent.
Several reviews illustrate the substantial contradiction of the African continent. The most glaring proof highlights the disparity between the quantity of external aid (about 50 billion USD) () and the estimated value of loss because of various inefficiencies (DRM) (500 billion USD). The conclusion is glaring: Africa doesn’t want aid; it wants a contemporary poem that evokes a contemporary financing mannequin for its increase path of, which must have at its core the boldness commensurate with its expansive potential.
Naturally, various dimensions should be projected, but I reflect that digital, particularly for the African state, has a strategic significance because of its accelerating and transformative potential. The world is witnessing technological evolutions at a hasten by no means skilled before. This fact is leading to an accelerated adoption attempt in all societies, which are facing substantial difficulties in managing this authentic digital transformation.
In Europe, we gape the accelerated increase of Estonia following its independence in 1991, with a stable concentrate on digital transformation. Estonia heavily invested in the digitalization of its society via fearless reforms that launched the “digital first” idea in the provision of public services, supported by a highly sturdy interoperability platform (X-ROAD) and digital identification (e-residency). As a consequence of this fearless digital transformation, Estonia saw its GDP per capita develop from USD 2.6K in 1993 to USD 29.8K in 2023, along with a significant upward thrust in its increase indicators (HDI), leading to an overall enchancment in quality of lifestyles.
In Asia, we have witnessed the “awakening” of the continent. South Korea is an spectacular example of how investing in technological transformation and valuing culture can elevate a nation’s increase phases. South Korea’s per capita GDP increase has transformed it from one of the poorest nations to 1 of the wealthiest economies in the world. Its increase strategy, rooted in innovation and technology, fostered the upward thrust of global conglomerates fancy Samsung, LG, and Hyundai, which have turn into global leaders. With one of the finest education systems in the world, decreasing-edge technology, and a globally influential cultural presence, South Korea has fully transformed.
China began a sequence of deep financial reforms in the Seventies that led to the experimentation of capitalism in a managed atmosphere. The creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), with liberal insurance policies and stable tax incentives supported by massive investments in education, research, increase, and innovation–particularly prioritizing science and advanced technologies–enabled the upward thrust of major financial players such as Huawei, Alibaba, and Tencent, which emerged as global leaders in rising technologies. A stable concentrate on education, innovation, and increase led to China’s financial issue. Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Xiamen, Shantou, Hainan, and Pudong are examples of Chinese language territories that contributed across various sectors to China’s constant 9.5% annual GDP increase. Today, China competes for global financial leadership.
In Kenya, the M-PESA revolution spurred innovation in the financial system by replacing traditional bank branches with cellphones offering financial services. This created remarkable financial inclusion in the nation (96% of households now have access to financial services), resulting in an financial issue, increasing daily GDP per capira and decreasing indecent poverty by 2%, whereas also boosting employment phases.
In Africa, various initiatives have aimed to accelerate increase via digital technology. Rwanda’s Vision 2020 and Kigali Innovation Metropolis (with a 7.2% annual GDP increase from 2000 to 2019), Tunisia’s Startup Act (Suppose of GDP), the fintech issue in Nigeria (increase of GDP), Ethiopia’s Digital Ethiopia 2025 (1.7% of GDP), South Africa and Cape Verde’s e-authorities initiatives (rising of GDP), Morocco’s Digital Transformation Strategy (Make stronger EGDI), and Egypt’s investments in the national ICT sector (more than 5.8% of GDP) are all examples of a continent eager to embrace digital technology to accelerate its increase path of.
Despite the various success reports around the world, the great potential of technological innovations remains underutilized, often being exploited at the pace of the strategic pursuits of more advanced nations. Africa, naturally, has various priorities and should have strategies tailored to its hold wants.
Extra advanced societies, with successfully-established health and education systems and extremely excessive phases of successfully-being, will naturally be more conservative in embracing all the transformational potential of contemporary technologies. Established pursuits, aging populations, and traditional (legacy) systems signify significant investments whose profitability should be ensured. This can be the great challenge for more developed regions in harnessing all the potential that digital offers.
Here lies Africa’s alternative, the genesis of the contemporary poem. Africa items substantial structural weaknesses that cripple even our vanity. To examine and aspire to a globally leading Africa is practically heretical when confronted with the basic survival challenges that unruffled persist. Nevertheless it is miles precisely on this context of near-structural fragility, which has led us to be the continent with the youngest population in the world, that our alternative lies.
Focusing on our potential, notably as holders of valuable of the raw materials essential to global increase, Africa must title “shortcuts” and “triggers” to accelerate our increase path of. But this exercise cannot be “undermined” from the start by our inability to “disconnect” from past poems.
In the digital age, where artificial intelligence, blockchain and fintech indicate themselves as future alternatives, Africa cannot envision building a financial system based on devices unruffled predominant in additional advanced regions. The challenges and pains of “evolved” territories related to change management cannot be adopted by a state that is practically “green field.” Urgently, an African vision harmonized for our territory is wished, so that Africa can snappily assemble a financial ecosystem, supported by all technological potential, that is far more advanced than that of the northern nations, which is able to inevitably face various resistances. The African financial system should not be based on concrete infrastructures representing traditional banking but rather on digital infrastructures with all their reach, security, and reliability that technological innovations allow. Naturally, the organizational, legislative, and operational architecture should be constructed with “digital by design,” “made in Africa,” and mainly “made for Africa.” In thoughts.
In this same line of thinking, Africa must embrace the path of of empowering our continent. With a very low literacy rate, around 65% in Sub-Saharan Africa, we cannot address this challenge by copying outdated education devices from more “evolved” nations. Digital, with all its transformational potential, allows us to take a look at contemporary, rather more practical ways of transmitting information. Europe and America, with traditional education systems, have an average of 1 teacher for every 13/14 pupils, whereas Sub-Saharan Africa has an average of 1 teacher for every 37 pupils. To examine an academy in the same way as northern nations would perpetuate the gaps. Africa has a unfamiliar alternative to manufacture an educational architecture “digital by design,” making certain a 1:1 digital Pupil/Tool ratio, thus guaranteeing a medium-time frame aggressive advantage over territories that, regardless of recognizing digital’s potential for education, are sluggish in its maximization. Latest considerations about the potential of artificial intelligence should be seen from the African continent’s point of view as an alternative to accelerate our increase path of. The African educational system should be strongly based on digital technology, the usage of virtual and augmented reality, as successfully as artificial intelligence, as fundamental instruments not fully for transmitting information but also to make certain that African culture is successfully represented in the digital sphere.
In the health system, we can face similar challenges, where Sub-Saharan Africa, with ratio of 1.98 to 37 beds per 10.000 population, items a gigantic deficit compared to Europe(20 to 220 beds) and Americas ( 4 to 56), and with rather more sophisticated medical doctors and instruments. Unusual technologies, such as far off measurement devices, far off diagnosis choices, telemedicine, teleconsultation, and artificial intelligence, can dramatically strengthen the quality of health services.
Industries across various sectors are currently undergoing significant transformations because of the potential that digital offers. One of the most emblematic exercise cases of 5G is precisely for industry, allowing for faster and more profitable production.
The examples mentioned above apply transversally to all areas of our societies. Digital is upsetting an authentic transformation in how we carry out things. Despite the devastating cease of the pandemic, that catastrophe allowed the world to accelerate its transformation path of and increased the certainty that digital transformation is an inevitable reality.
It’s therefore my conviction that a contemporary African poem should be based on an accelerated digital transformation of the territory as a foundation to leverage all our potential, shorten distances, and place Africa on the path to sustainable increase, in maintaining with our expansive potential. Studies have highlighted that there is a drawl correlation between inefficient public services and instability, being this an extra incentive to strengthen service shipping via innovation and technology.
But how one can achieve this? Certainly not with the latest mannequin where we are in “copy-paste mode”, doing what others have achieved before. Africa must lead the digital appropriation, not copy it. We have a continent with survival challenges that digital can mitigate. We have a young population originate to contemporary things. And we have very little “legacy” infrastructure, which is a great advantage. These dimensions should lead us to sing in another way, act in another way, and reflect in another way.
The first challenge lies inner ourselves. Believing will not be any doubt the first step. Raising our vanity to phases that allow us to dare to elevate Africa to its potential. Introducing the idea of ‘Begin Innovation’ and co-creation at the strategic center of a contemporary mannequin for the African continent. Perfect a united entrance that addresses the challenges of our territory in a homogeneous way will allow us to reach the limits of our potential. Finally, absolutely embracing the precept of experimentation and openness to change. Perfect a continent that, at the core of its transformation efforts, embraces openness to change can be efficient in achieving this fearless goal. The precept of ‘sandbox’ should be one of the structural substances in Africa’s digital transformation path of. A stable educational system, supported by rising technologies and a curriculum targeted on openness and innovation, can be crucial for instilling self assurance in the African population in the building of a contemporary era, a contemporary Africa, a contemporary Poem.
The net as an essential commodity should be the foundation of the contemporary poem. Each African should have access to adequate digital instruments and be connected to the net. This should be the basis of African increase. The subsidization of this goal should be at the high of the continent’s priorities. This goal implies significant investments in vitality and communication technologies, whether from telecom operators or satellites. The creation of this digital highway should be seen as one of the most structural substances in the fight against indecent poverty because of its potential to address education, health, and financial issues. Africa must aspire to have the most advanced connectivity technologies to make certain not fully universal access but also the provision of essential services to its citizens.
Verify in for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Salvage the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
On the other hand, this contemporary paradigm of “made for Africa” implies not fully the digital highway but also the existence of a sing material and application production ecosystem for all areas of society, from education to health, commerce, security, justice, public administration, agriculture, fisheries, the financial system… The creation of an ecosystem conducive to the production of “for Africa” , sing material, can be essential. Naturally, in addition to stimulating African academies with significant funding in research and increase, it’ll be crucial for Africa to adopt two ideas: Begin Innovation and Begin Supply.
Africa wants to adopt approaches that promote technological autonomy, local value creation, and community involvement. It’s on this context that the idea of Begin Innovation and the exercise of Begin Supply technologies can turn into the pillars of digital increase on the continent. Although the African continent has advanced in adopting digital technologies, many nations unruffled face excessive dependence on foreign technological choices, a lack of adequate infrastructure, and restricted capacity. The importation of proprietary technologies burdens budgets and limits the ability to adapt these instruments to local realities. Furthermore, the creation of innovative sing material that displays the wants and cultural specificities of the continent has been scarce, reinforcing the digital divide. This paradigm wants to change. To beat these challenges, the contemporary poem must adopt a collaborative approach enchanting universities, startups, governments, and civil society. And here’s where Begin Innovation and the exercise of Begin Supply Technologies turn into central. Imagine a pan-African community of digital innovation hubs where universities collaborate with tech startups and local governments to co-create choices for African challenges, such as sustainable agriculture, digital health, and financial inclusion. This collaborative atmosphere can be fueled by a digital ecosystem that encourages applied research and early life entrepreneurship, the usage of originate-source choices. Yes, Begin source should be at the heart of the African Digital landscape.
With an originate-source infrastructure and a culture of originate innovation on a regional scale, I strongly reflect that the prerequisites can be created for a contemporary African narrative, where our positioning can be to lengthen a hand, sure, but from a point of view of partnership, to establish agreements for the export of achieved products and not raw materials.
Naturally, insurance policies such as imposing restrictions on the export of raw materials (a tax on raw materials) from the continent may stimulate the concentration of transformation technologies inner our continent.
As an African who hopes that the forthcoming “Summit of the Future” will bring a contemporary vision for Africa, I deeply hope that the latest African leaders will upward thrust to meet the expectations of the families of this wealthy continent. Aware of the expansive wealth and potential of our continent, let us confidently and boldly embrace the opportunities of the digital age, and with one roar declare a contemporary poem for Africa. The ambition is to manufacture an Africa that matches its potential with a strategy “made for Africans.”
Hélio Varela, born in São Vicente, Cape Verde, is a seasoned professional with 33 years of journey in the Information and Communication Skills sector, having labored across Europe and Africa in each public and private spheres. Identified for his visionary leadership in digital governance in Cabo Verde, he currently serves as CTIO at Unitel T+, CEO of CV Information superhighway Exchange Point and as a member of African Consultants Network for the Office of the Special Advisor on Africa.