Digitalization has enormous consequences on Africa. Yet, various disciplines including African studies have only begun to understand the dynamics of the emerging digital transformation. This panel addresses how new forms of technological change impact contemporary outcomes and challenges in Africa.
Long Abstract:
Digitalization has enormous consequences on Africa. Since the turn of the millennium, many countries in Africa have experienced an unprecedented turnaround in terms of various political, socioeconomic, and cultural outcomes and it appears that at the heart of the unparalleled progress is an increasing level of digitalization catalyzed by the information technology boom. Digitalization has transformed how individuals, societies, firms and governments operate through the application of ICT tools such as computers, mobile phones and the internet. This has led to the emergence of new forms of civic engagement, employment, products, processes and market channels that impact livelihoods and how people behave and communicate. Though digitalization potentially has many positive implications, such as the creation of new jobs, there are also possible negative effects including job destruction that may render whole systems of the economy redundant affecting current and future labour market and social policies. Recently, mobility restrictions associated with the Coronavirus pandemic have made the impact of digitalization even more pronounced. While the dynamics and impact of digitalization receive extensive research attention in advanced countries, the same cannot be said for Africa. For instance, considering Africa’s large informal sector and digital development disparities, it remains to be seen whether the emerging transformation will create new divides, reinforce old divides or provide solutions. Yet, various disciplines including African studies, have only begun to understand the processes and impacts of such digital transformation. This panel addresses how new forms of technological change impact contemporary development outcomes and challenges in Africa.
This paper intends to analyse how the increasing use of digital ID in Rwanda complies with the law and the principles protecting human rights.
Paper long abstract:
The Rwandan ID system has been commended by the world as remarkable. It has been even used as a case-study to inspire other sub-saharan countries. In the last five years, the use of the national ID number to access public services has so increased that it has become the only way to enjoy some services. However, a deep analysis shows despite the fast growing digitization of governance and services in Rwanda, the legal framework remains weak. The recent adoption of the law on data protection and privacy augurs a good progress. But the moratorium of two years given to current data controllers and processors to comply with this law does not seem to take into consideration current flows in the protection of human rights. This paper scans the current legal landscape governing the use of digital ID in Rwanda and assess to which extent is complies to basic human rights standards.
By unpacking the complexities of ICT usage at the East African Court of Justice, our paper foregrounds the impact of digital transformation in Africa's international courts as a window into understanding the digitalisation of justice systems in Africa.
Paper long abstract:
ICT use in the judiciary dates back to war crimes tribunals that sprung up after World War II. Nevertheless, the available literature is limited to Euro-American accounts and hardly any African courts. Interestingly, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has successfully pioneered the usage of ICT infrastructure to promote the effective administration of justice well before the COVID pandemic. Against this backdrop, the authors draw on their combined research and practitioner expertise to spark dialogue on the role of African courts as sites of digitalisation in a conscious effort to change the narrative around technological advancement in Africa. Moreover, we conducted expert interviews and relied on relevant court documents to systematically assess the courts’ usage of ICT in the administration of regional justice. Given the range of the Court’s users, we aim to unpack the complexities involved in embracing ICT to advance the rule of law in the EAC. Initially, we sketch out the Court’s organisational set-up and composition to situate our study’s relevance. We then consider the evolution of the Court’s ICT infrastructure and ponder what these advances could reveal about its utilisation in regional integration processes in Africa. In sum, we argue that despite funding limitations and a reluctance by some stakeholders to embrace technology, the EACJ is attuned to ICT, and its recent move to hold sessions in another partner state is proof of the Court’s determination to move justice closer to the people.
Using digitally assisted counter-power movements in Ethiopia between 2015-2021, the paper examines digital encounters and patterns of the relationships between main actors in the digital space –users, the government, and platform technologies. It will apply the network theory of power and the law.
Paper long abstract:
The article problematizes the deployment of state surveillance, rulemaking and regulatory leverages and the gatekeeping role of platform technologies in modulating and suppressing the emergence of a self-determined critical mass. As a remedial approach to addressing the risks inherent in intersecting state-corporate configuration and surveillance, the article proposes a broadly defined yet context-specific right to privacy that enables self-development, protects a socially and culturally constructed emergent self, and encourages the capacity for self-determination. Throughout the analysis, it seeks to highlight three overarching arguments that have relevance beyond the specific case of Ethiopia. Firstly, it challenges the assumption that the digital space is a neutral and free space. It argues that digital platforms provide venues for contested and rival narratives and interests, and that not every actor in the digital space has equal leverage over the digital infrastructure. The digital space therefore manifests an asymmetric power relationship. Secondly, it argues that the capacity of citizens for self-development and self-determination is increasingly modulated by expansive surveillance and the regulatory leverage of state and corporate power, which is used to suppress the emergence of critical mass. It therefore argues that thirdly, there is a pressing need for the reinterpretation of legal protection for privacy rights as a protection for a socially and culturally constructed emergent self. By addressing this need, protection will be offered to the capacity for self-determination, critical subjectivity and democracy.
This paper is based on interviews in 2021 with trade union officials in Cabo Verde about their use of ICTs. Using distributive discourse as a framework, the findings show that ICTs are not being utilised systematically to enhance the effectiveness of trade union work or to democratise procedures.
Paper long abstract:
Cabo Verde receives praise as an African 'success story', on account of its economic policies, which attract FDI and its multi-party liberal democratic political system. Narratives focusing on the development path of the country rarely include an analysis of the work of trade unions. This paper is based on primary research conducted in 2021, which addresses that deficit, drawing on interviews with union officials and the Inspector General of Labour. The focus of the research is the use of ICTs by trade unions. While various forms of ICTs have become accessible to trade unions in recent years, there is little information on which of them are utilised and with what effect. Distributive discourse is used as a conceptual framework to provide insights into ways in which the ability of trade unionists in Cabo Verde to participate in debates and actions is affected by the prevalence and control of digital technologies. The findings show that weak channels of communication are problems for unions in Cabo Verde, which hinder their ability to defend the rights of members effectively. The enhanced use of ICTs - particularly Facebook, Zoom and Viber - in recent years has led to a more democratically distributed discourse within the trade union movement in some settings. However, ICTs are not being utilised systematically to enhance the effectiveness of the work of unions or to democratise procedures. In the light of the research findings a number of policy implications are outlined.
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