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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.
Africa has experienced rapid digitalisation over the last decade but with this has come the digital divide. Using data from Ibrahim Index of African Governance among other sources, this paper shines a light on those who have been left behind by the digital revolution.
Paper long abstract:
Access to ICTs has grown rapidly in Africa over the last decade and with a generation of digital entrepreneurs adapting to new global conditions, much has been made of the continent's digital revolution. Indeed, success stories such as Kenya's MPESA mobile money system have demonstrated that digitalisation can provide African countries an opportunity to 'leapfrog', utilising new technologies to meet current challenges in many areas of public life. However, with digitalisation has come the digital divide, exacerbating existing inequalities. Access to ICTs is highly uneven between different countries on the continent, while within countries lack of infrastructure and high prices can create divides along urban/rural lines and economic lines respectively. In addition to physical access, there is a divide in access to the training and skills needed to harness such technology effectively, potentially restraining learning opportunities for women and girls. Furthermore, in the age of e-governance the digital divide impacts democratic participation and access to essential public services, excluding those who lack access to ICTs or the skills to use them. Ultimately, the continent will not be able to truly leverage its digital potential until the digital divide is bridged. For this policy makers will need data-driven analysis that identifies where the divide is most pronounced. This paper will provide such analysis, drawing on a wealth of data from Ibrahim Index of African Governance and other complementary sources, it will shine a light on those who have been left behind by the digital revolution.
The paper draws on the case of drone uses in African healthcare systems in order to explore how digital innovation stimulates critical changes in infrastructural provision. Data extractivism and fantasies of infrastructural leap-frogging are major forces behind infrastructural experimentality.
Paper long abstract:
In 2016, the Silicon Valley-based tech company Zipline signed a deal with the Rwandan government for the delivery of logistical services in order to support the provision of healthcare in remote, infrastructurally disconnected areas of the country. Promoted as the world's first "fully automated instant delivery system," these services differ from conventional logistics offerings in that they are based on unmanned aerial vehicles, popularly known as drones, whose operation depends on complex software and digital computing.
In this paper, I draw on the case of experimental drone uses in African healthcare systems in order to explore how digital innovation stimulates critical changes in infrastructural provision and the ways in which the global role of places such as Silicon Valley, Rwanda, and Ghana, as well as their connections, are configured in such processes. Developing the idea of "infrastructure-as-service" as a sociological concept, we suggest that data extractivism and fantasies of infrastructural leap-frogging are major forces behind emergent fields of infrastructural experimentality. Revisiting dominant theories of infrastructure, the paper scrutinizes the promises of digital infrastructures and sheds light on the specific ways in which regions in the Global South participate in, and offer indispensable services for, infrastructural changes.
This paper examines attitudes toward digitalization by studying the prevalence of fears and hopes about digitalization and the future of work among the economically active population in Ghana.
Paper long abstract:
Digitalization and the future of work inspire both hopes and fears among citizens. However, while there are a lot of studies on public opinion on these topics for OECD countries, in developing countries we find much less research. We present evidence from a field survey with an experimental component in Ghana. We show that while hopes are much more pronounced than in advanced economies, opinions also change once people are exposed to new types of information. We also investigate reasons that explain differences in attitudes and what people even associate with digitalization. Our findings have broader implications for the acceptance and usage of ICT and the future of work in developing countries.
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