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Paper short abstract:

In digital identification technologies, the digital citizen appears to be less a bearer of rights than a cosmopolitan, tech-savvy subject who secures the political stability of the country by participating in and shaping the digital economy.

Paper long abstract:

Many African governments have begun implementing digital identification programs that should help register the ‘missing billion’ to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 ‘legal identity for all’. These technologies come in the form of biometric National Identification Numbers, digital ID cards and digital identity wallets. Building on recent research on ‘digital citizens’ (Isin/Ruppert 2020) and the ‘start-up state’ (Nair 2019), this presentation examines how sociotechnical imaginaries (Jasanoff 2020) linked to digital identification technologies reconfigure imaginaries of the state and its citizens (Stepputat/Hansen 2001). By discussing preliminary results of my ongoing ethnographic field research on the digital ID in Sierra Leone, I suggest that the digital citizen appears to be less a bearer of rights than a cosmopolitan, tech-savvy subject who secures the political stability of the country by participating in and shaping the digital economy.

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Paper short abstract:

This study provides a macro overview of how digitalization is driving structural changes in Sub-Sahara Africa and concurrently driving the demand for specific public interventions. It draws from multiple data sets to show how digitalization shapes not only the economic landscape but also politics.

Paper long abstract:

In the contemporary discourse on politics in Africa, the digitalization phenomenon emerges as a double-edged sword, with the potential to either erode or invigorate democratic institutions and practices. This study contributes to the discourse on the digital revolution in Africa and its implications for the future of work and politics, providing empirical evidence on how technological change is reshaping not only the economic landscape in Africa but also political preferences. It examines the relationship between rapid digitalization and political preferences in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 1995 to 2022, considering the implications for public demand for a set of social programs. By applying a longitudinal approach, I harness macro-level data from multiple sources, including the IDEA International, International Labor Organisation (ILO), the World Bank, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as well as micro-level data from Afrobarometer surveys. Using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and multilevel modelling, this study preliminarily reveals how various digital technologies have uneven impacts across economic sectors over time, and how they concurrently drive individuals towards specific political preferences. The findings have broader implications for SSA including the urgency for policymakers to reimagine governance strategies that embrace digitalization while addressing public needs.

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Paper short abstract:

This talk examines the new IT industry in Africa and socio-political aspects through the case of a Ghanaian company with an operative and training branch. It studies the first three years after its foundation and discusses the conditions for the firm and skilled workers in a digital global economy.

Paper long abstract:

My presentation addresses socio-political dimensions in the new IT industry in Africa, especially concerning work. It examines a sphere that embeds skilled workers in the new conditions of a digital global economy. The worldwide demand for IT skills leads to new business activities and developmental efforts in Africa. This field promises to drive economic growth and job creation in many countries. Local and international corporations, development organizations, and state actors have a strong interest in IT. Yet, these interests and the plans of employees do not always overlap – one of many entry points for socio-political conflicts.

The paper examines ongoing processes in the case of a recently funded Ghanaian IT business and training company. The focus lies on the first three years of this firm. A particularity is that this enterprise has a training branch and an operative branch. It offers free training for young Ghanaians to qualify them for competitive work in the business sector. The financial means for the founding came from the German mother company and development agencies.

This enterprise had to deal with multiple problems. The difficulties range from insecure infrastructure such as power failures to the search for staff to the high turnover of employees. A somewhat paradoxical structure was the double strategic outlook of the training and business sector. The more successful employees were in the training, the higher the probability that they will leave for better-paying international companies. Digitalization and the global reach of employability have multiple effects on this in-demand industry.

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Paper short abstract:

This article explores how an analogue instrument – taxation – is differentially deployed by African states, depending on which economic and political interests take priority. It finds that political and economic incentives play a role in the adoption of taxes on the use of social media and internet.

Paper long abstract:

Concerns are increasing over the political power multinational digital platform companies wield in the countries where they generate value from data, including across the African continent, while remaining untaxed. At the same time many African countries struggle to raise revenue. In this context, some states have attempted to levy taxes on citizens’ online activities, for example by taxing the use of social media, thereby also restricting the digital political space. This article explores how an analogue instrument – taxation – is differentially deployed by African states, depending on which economic and political interests take priority. Based on the comparison of Benin, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria, the article finds that both political and economic incentives play a role in the adoption of taxes on the use of social media and internet, depending on whether states are more interested in restricting the use of such services to limit opposition and/or to raise revenue, or whether their interest lie in the potential of internet for economic development and/or for population surveillance. These findings highlight how taxation can shape the digital political sphere, and be used as a tool to support its expansion – or to limit it.

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Paper short abstract:

John Magufuli, Tanzania’s former president, passed away unexpectedly during his tenure in 2021. After his death, urban legends started to spread amongst Tanzanians on social media platforms according to which Magufuli’s death had other reasons than the officially announced heart condition.

Paper long abstract:

I was surprised to stumble upon urban legends in Tanzania in 2022 about the country’s former president John Magufuli (2015 - 2021). Magufuli passed away suddenly in 2021 and some Tanzanians think that there is more to his death than a heart condition, the official explanation of the government, or Corona, the opposition’s interpretation of why Magufuli died.

Interestingly, urban legends started to spread and propagated fast online according to which Magufuli’s death had other reasons than the heart condition or Covid-19. The virality of these urban legends has contributed to increasing mistrust regarding Western influence in Tanzanian and even in African governmental affairs generally.

Magufuli was a critic of international - and particularly of Western influence in Tanzania and Africa more broadly. He emphasised in many of his speeches that the continued dependency of Tanzania and the African continent on the West must stop.

For many Tanzanian citizens, there was no satisfying explanation for Magufuli’s sudden death in 2021 which seems to have been food for imagination, especially on social media platforms. In the context of a discourse analysis, I collect the urban legends that have emerged in the Digital which have shaped the political views of many Tanzanians in an essential way.

The acceptance of these urban legends on social media platforms translates to mistrust regarding politics and the official statements of politicians as people. At the same time, the Digital shows the potential of being a space for sharing feelings of mistrust and controversial opinions in Tanzania.

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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the impact of digital technology in improving the quality of elections in Africa using Nigeria as a case study. Technology helped Nigeria's electoral umpire not only in producing credible voters register but also prevent the old practice of multiple and under-age voting.

Paper long abstract:

Elections are an important mechanism for institutionalizing democracy. However, Africa has the lowest levels of electoral integrity compared to other regions. Since the return of Nigeria to a multi-party system in 1999, its electoral process has been marred by irregularities. Nigeria's elections fell short of the electoral integrity threshold of being free, fair, and transparent. Five out of six presidential elections in Nigeria were challenged in the court. Electoral fraud undermines citizens’ ability to hold political leaders accountable, destroys citizens’ confidence in electoral and democratic institutions and sometimes leads to political violence. To bolster electoral integrity, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria deployed digital technology in conducting the 2023 elections. This paper is set to examine the impact of technology on the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria. The data was sourced through interviews with the INEC ad-hoc staff, media reports on the day of election, reports from INEC, local and international election monitoring groups and other written documents. The paper found that the technology used by INEC has induced behavioral change on the part of politicians who engage in stuffing ballot boxes since only accredited votes will be counted during collation and tallying of results. Technology helped to eliminate multiple and under-age voting which characterized the electoral process prior to its adoption. However, technology generates vulnerabilities. In the 2023 presidential election, reports show that politicians made several attempts to hack the INEC server-the vital election infrastructure-in order to manipulate the tabulation of the final results.

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Paper short abstract:

Nigerian youths employed social media to organize and launch themselves in their quest to bring about change during the 2023 elections. They recorded some achievements by putting up strong political shows that resulted in the replacement of some old politicians, though not without some failures.

Paper long abstract:

The 2023 elections in Nigeria were preceded by a huge expression of interest to vote and be voted for by the Nigerian youths. Unlike in the past when voter apathy was on the ascendancy, the bulk of the youths were eager to participate in the 2023 elections, a situation that saw the youth being the major registrants for the voters’ card. Towards the 2023 elections, youths constituted 71 percent of the 12 million fresh applicants for Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in the continuous voter registration exercise (CVR) which commenced in June 2021 and ended on July 31, 2022. Voter education among the youth was carried out mainly on social media with the primary goal of replacing old political guards with younger and more progressive politicians. While the youths employed Twitter and Facebook to organize and launch themselves out in their quest to bring about change, much was achieved but with certain apparent failures. Through content analysis of some of their Tweets and Facebook posts before, during, and after elections, this study argues that even though the Obedient Movement utilized social media a lot to organize themselves towards the 2023 election and recorded great political outing, if certain loopholes are plugged, they can do in future elections.

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Paper short abstract:

This research critically examines the evolution and impact of the End SARS movement, highlighting the role of digital platforms in mobilizing, organizing, and amplifying the voices of dissent. Moreover, it evaluates the accomplishments, obstacles, and lasting legacies of the movement.

Paper long abstract:

This research focuses on the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) within the Nigerian police, initially created in 1992 to combat violent crimes. However, over time, SARS became infamous for widespread human rights violations, including unlawful arrests, extrajudicial killings, extortion, rape and torture. In response, a significant campaign, #EndSARS, emerged in late 2017, led by Nigerian human rights defenders and activists. This research critically examines the evolution and impact of the End SARS movement, highlighting the role of digital platforms in mobilizing, organizing, and amplifying the voices of dissent. It delves into the ways in which social media, online activism, and digital technologies have redefined the landscape of political engagement in the global south, providing new avenues for civic participation and advocacy. Furthermore, this study assesses the achievements, challenges, and enduring legacies of the End SARS movement. It analyzes the movement's effectiveness in catalyzing tangible reforms, addressing systemic injustices, and fostering a culture of accountability within Nigeria's law enforcement institutions. By synthesizing qualitative data from interviews, media analysis, and scholarly literature, this research offers nuanced insights into the broader implications of police brutality and protest movements on political participation in Nigeria. It concludes with actionable recommendations for policymakers, civil society actors, and activists to leverage the power of digital politics in advancing social change, protecting human rights, and strengthening democratic institutions. Through a thorough analysis of the End SARS campaign, this research sheds light on the broader implications for activism, governance, and the role of digital technologies in reshaping political landscapes.