How To Invest in Africa: Addressing the Digital Divide
After watching this conversation between Strive Masiyiwa and James Manyika, they discussed many pivotal topics about the nature of technology in Africa. One thing that stood out to me was the importance of investment. This was supported by 'Generation Next Talks' with Ismail D. Badjie; he also emphasized the importance of investment for the African continent to advance its technology.
In the midst of technology making leaps and progress, it can be worrisome that the technology divide may be worsening. It's not so much about ensuring equal global access to the metaverse, blockchain technology, and self-charging cars. That probably won't be as useful for developing countries. However, technology specifically designed to solve the continent's pressing problems, such as access to finance, reliable internet, and water cleaning systems, should be prioritized. I think most will agree that it is much more important for all children to have access to stable internet connections to enable them to access e-learning than for a select few to have access to the metaverse.
The interesting thing, as Ismail D. Badjie points out, is that Africans and pan-Africans are coming up with the innovation and technology that can change and positively impact the lives of millions. After all, they are the ones exposed to pressing problems every day, have a good understanding of them, and have the creativity and ideas to solve them. But what is stopping them? Funding.
Strive Masiyiwa, a mobile technology guru, says in this interview that he prefers to invest in basic core digital infrastructure like data centers rather than investing in services and shiny new technologies.
It is important, maybe even absolutely necessary, that there is significant investment initially in basic digital infrastructure in Africa. Because when that basic infrastructure is built, Africa can easily become an extremely attractive pool of investment.
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