Technology, trends, tips: three experts share insights on digital transformation and ICT acceleration in Africa
December 21st 2022
As we wrap up the year 2022, Extensia Media interviews three experts from diverse organisations for insights into digital trends, innovation, 2023 outlook, and recommendations for multi-stakeholder partnerships in Africa.
See also our earlier conference insights from Extensia’s Innovation Africa Digital Summits (IADS) in 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014, and the Youth Engagement Summit.
Digital trends
African governments are accelerating their digital transformation journey in the areas of infrastructure (middle and last mile), digital skills, and strengthening of policy and regulations, according to Olu Olutola, Connectivity and Digital Advisor, Africa, at USAID.
“The increasingly rapid convergence of mobile and financial services and payments is shaking up the telecoms and banking sectors. Arising from the post-pandemic hybrid working world, new work and “collaboration opportunities” are opening up between Africa and the West,” observes Paul Dunne, Founder and CEO of Mehhal, an intelligent platform for achieving team effectiveness at scale.
He also points to a nascent but growing shift from a population of digital consumers to a population of digital creators, including among the ‘digital natives.’
“There is a stronger interest in innovation, as a mixture of jumping onto a moving bandwagon and also for the real opportunities it represents,” observes Tony Lee Luen Len, Senior Partner at environmental sustainability consultancy Ecosis.
“We see more mature startup ecosystems and products that make it big. For example, in Nigeria, the tech sector has overtaken the oil and gas industry,” he adds.
Opportunities in Africa
Paul Dunne sees three key opportunities in Africa for Mehhal. This includes helping large organisations drive far more engagement in innovation from across their employees, getting greater buy-in to digital transformation, and driving more agility without overloading management bandwidth.
“With our Digital Strategy launched in 2020, we have set out a clear and robust strategy on how we see digital in Africa,” Olu Olutola of USAID explains.
Digital is integrated in its in-country programmes. “We are promoting an open, inclusive, interoperable and secure digital ecosystem,” Olutola adds. There is also emphasis on evidence-based best practices, enhancement of digital skills, and promotion of entrepreneurship.
For Tony Lee Luen Len of Ecosis, opportunities lie in accelerating positive impact initiatives with the Sustainable Development Goals as a foundation. “Africa offers the ability to recruit top talents at cheaper rates, and the ability to raise money from development partners,” he adds.
Digital innovations in Africa
“Africa continues to be a continent of innovation and ideas,” Olu Olutola affirms. The pandemic accelerated critical thinking and innovations across all sectors.
“On the product side, we have seen the rise of fintechs in Africa taking over a market dominated by banks. We have also seen an increase in e-health, e-education and e-government platforms being pushed by national government to get digital services to rural and underserved areas,” he adds.
Paul Dunne of Mehhal identifies three areas of innovation in Africa: mobile payments (evolving beyond the success of M-PESA), upskilling talent for tech roles, and the convergence of indigenous knowledge and new technologies for climate adaption and sustainability.
Plans for 2023
The three experts also share their organisational plans for Africa in 2023, and areas for expansion and strengthening.
“We are launching a new initiative looking into digital infrastructure and economy, human capital development, and digital enabling environment in five priority countries,” Olu Olutola of USAID explains.
The aim is to help develop a healthy, inclusive and resilient digital ecosystem built on an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet. “In line with the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa and the US Strategy towards Sub-Saharan Africa, the initiative will strengthen and expand internet access, digital technology adoption, digital skills and literacy, and the digital enabling environment in Africa,” he describes.
Tony Lee Luen Len of Ecosis is piloting the startup anAngel in South Africa. It was accelerated at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town, and is now part of InnoTribe at Innovation City in Cape Town.
“We are also looking at setting up a venture capital firm focusing on impact initiatives,” he adds. The focus is not just on financial multipliers but social and natural capital.
Paul Dunne of Mehhal plans to expand his teams of technologists and engineers in South Africa, and develop more partnerships with the higher education research sector.
Partnership recommendations
The experts also offer tips or words of advice for better partnerships between government and industry in Africa, for acceleration of ICT investments and adoption.
“Partnership is the way to go but it needs to be aligned with proper vision and goals. Digital transformation cannot be done in silos. So partnership with national governments, regional bodies and the private sector would unlock the change we intend to see,” Olu Olutola of USAID affirms.
Political will is also needed to get things moving. “With political will, we can move the needle on different fronts so as to bridge the digital divide,” he adds. Regional bodies and organisations such as the AU, ECOWAS and EAC will help in this regard to build robust partnerships.
“Effective partnership begins with a lot research and understanding,” Tony Lee Luen Len advises. “It is a field of study, and knowledge in this domain has advanced significantly,” he adds.
“Technology represents the biggest opportunity in our lifetime. Though there is also the other side of the coin, it is important to apply appreciative inquiry and focus on the positive side. To make the world a better place requires effective multi-stakeholder and multi-sector collaboration,” he affirms.
“Government should actively seek process improvement to reduce red-tape and work with industry to increase openness to new ideas and ventures,” Paul Dunne advises.
Government and industry both need to fully unleash innovation flows, which calls for risk-taking and accepting the consequent rates of failure in the journey. “Government can help stimulate investment in innovation and R&D through more direct support and tax incentives,” he adds.
He signs off: “Make the year 2023 matter like no other before!”.
Post by Dr. Madanmohan Rao
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