Global digital economy is poised to rake in over US$60 trillion in revenues by 2025. The distribution of the revenue of that magnitude is highly skewed with the developed world along with China and India are going to be the major contributors and beneficiaries of that wealth waiting to be created.
Can Africa ever be a stakeholder of that mind-boggling wealth? Happily, there is thinking among the African nations that they should not be bypassed in that wealth generation game.
The recently met Africa50 infrastructure fund assessed that if the countries in the region grow at the current rate, particularly in industrialization, and overlook their knowledge economies, they will be upfront with 100m jobless citizens by 2050.
They also warned that if Africa thinks that it is oil and gas or other minerals that lead them to the development path, they are mistaken to the core. Like China and India, Africa should have a focus on knowledge economy and more focus on innovation and technology that can widen the economies of scale and scope. The human ingenuity should grow through a bottom up process and to wait for research laboratories and universities to deliver good in a knowledge-driven economy is like waiting for impossible to happen. Innovation and technology temperament and love for science should lie at the base of the societal pyramid and not at the top.
What made US, China and, to a lesser extent, India to stay ahead of others in innovation? It is the ability to create newer business platforms and concepts. Facebook, Google, Amazaon and Intel are investing heavily in technology and innovation so also China based Huawei. The green shoots of that awakening is evident in African horizon. That manifests in different forms and hues. Widespread penetration of mobile phones, slow catching up of internet, creation of digital platforms for money transactions and higher allocation for ICT sector and even a candid admission that the nation is way behind in information technology and higher education are positive signs of a growing economy. The success lies in building on these strengths. Scientific temperament comes to play when there’s an environment that allows them to prosper. Innovation ecosystems needs basic infrastructure, such as road networks and ports, digital infrastructure including cheap broadband, supportive business and regulatory environments, technology, and talented scientific and mathematical minds.
That said, financing for the future is a luxury for most of the countries in Africa, which are beset with the problems of the present and invidious legacies of the past. Can they ever snap the bonds from the past to get grooved to the future? It is possible if Africa has an enlightened leadership, which can take the decisions in the present for the benefit of the future. How many such countries and leaders are there in Africa is the trillion dollar question?
