Accelerating Growth and Development in Africa: the role of technology and innovation
By: Stephen Olapade
Tags: Growth, Technology, Africa, Innovation, Development

picture: skal.org

Technology and innovation are the key elements of growth and development. Economic researches, studies, and literature prove the direct involvement of science, technology, and innovation in improving growth and development in a country and region.

According to the World Economic Forum, Africa is the second most populous and the youngest continent on the planet with a median age of only nineteen years. Africa is also home to the world’s youngest population, and in modern times, having a young population is an unparalleled opportunity and a critical challenge. role of technology and innovation is an extremely crucial element for utilizing the young population’s potential by promoting entrepreneurship across the continent.

Entrepreneurship will improve the African continent’s socio-economic status by accelerating growth and development across multiple domestic and industrial sectors. Increased entrepreneurship, which is a product of incorporating technology and innovation into the African system, will result in increased investments in the African economy, better capital, and human resources than ever before. As the number of capital resources, graduates, and skilled labor increases, manufacturing industries will establish their manufacturing plants throughout the continent because the natural and human resources required for running the plants will be readily available. To take the fair share of foreign investments, governments throughout the continent will be forced to introduce improved economic and trade policies, i.e., the cost of doing business, protection of intellectual property rights, money laundering and corruption laws, etc. Technology and innovation will incorporate improved efficiency and productivity, enhanced managerial and manufacturing procedures, and better organizational structure into the African market.

This will also revive the African markets for local businesses by creating space for them to expand. International and local businesses combined will accelerate growth and development in Africa.

Investing in information and communications technology (ICT) will help innovate the African continent’s current supply chain structure. The African continent can utilize its 1.3 billion population to transform its economy to a consumer-based economy, attracting more foreign investments from consumer-based industries located in the West and Asia. Improved supply chain structure will help industries manage their inventory, warehouses, operations, purchasing, delivery, etc. ICT also helps industry predict customer behavior and deviations in purchasing and selling trends that will increase their responsiveness, making the supply chain industries very efficient, effective, and adaptable. Using technology and innovation to refurbish current ICT will accelerate economic growth and development. The role of technology and innovation in the growth and development of the digital economy is similar to that of traditional economies, maybe more.

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According to the UN and International Telecommunication Union, 650 million Africans have mobile phones, but last year only 28 percent of Africans used the internet, respectively. Despite these numbers, the worth of e-commerce in Africa stood at USD 16.5 billion in 2017 and is expected to cross USD 29 billion by the end of 2022. Internet access had increased from a little over 2 percent in 2005 to 24.5 percent in 2018.

However, governments still need to refresh their digital policies, expand internet connectivity, enable online payments, and increase trade through banks. Small and intermediate businesses consist of more than 90 percent of African economies. Cash on delivery is still the most dominant payment method in Africa and is a significant obstacle preventing local businesses from expanding digitally. Shifting 90 percent of this African economy to e-commerce can be a game-changer. By introducing technology and innovation into the local African businesses and improving access to smartphones and the internet, governments can help Africa’s digital and traditional economy skyrocket.

Technology and innovation will tackle critical issues such as quality of health and education sector, food insecurity and poor agricultural output, water and energy needs, underdeveloped infrastructure, and poor foreign relations faced by generations through increasing regional and global trade, cooperation, and business competitiveness.

Competitiveness helps reduce the cost of technology, allowing other nations and industries to enter the race. The world’s first drone port is in Rwanda that delivers goods and supplies to disconnected and underdeveloped regions. African countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Guinea are now tackling the energy crisis by investing in modern sustainable electricity generation technologies like solar power infrastructure and hydroelectric infrastructure. To improve the agricultural yield, Nigerian farmers can purchase fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and high-quality seeds through their mobile phones. The Liberian government is using GPS technology to bring schools under their radar so they could easily monitor them and distribute resources more effectively. Such steps are very crucial for tackling unemployment, gender, and income inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa. As per World Bank and IMF, twenty-seven of the world’s twenty-eight poorest countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is predicted that by 2030, Sub-Saharan Africa will be home to around 90 percent of the global population living in extreme poverty. All of these happenings justify the urgent need to boost every primary sector’s growth and development by investing in science, technology, and innovation, ultimately leading to an economic boost. The digital divide can only be eliminated by investing in innovation and technology.

According to the World Bank and IMF, ten of the nineteen most unequal countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa, where females are only the end consumers of technology. 2020 pandemic has also highlighted the urgent need for the developing world to invest in digitizing the education system. Unlike traditional education, free online education, learning, and certifications are accessible to the masses. African governments must formalize and fund online learning platforms like Data Science Nigeria, Zindi, Blockgeeks, etc.