Ebook197 pages6 hours
Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs
By Tania Begazo, Moussa Blimpo and Mark Dutz
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
All African countries need better and more jobs f or their growing populations. Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth.
These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains.
Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them.
For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa.
To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains.
Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them.
For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa.
To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
Related to Digital Africa
Related ebooks
Digital Senegal for Inclusive Growth: Technological Transformation for Better and More Jobs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTELECOM ORGANIZATIONS ADAPT IN A POST-COVID-19 REALITY Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings3G Marketing: Communities and Strategic Partnerships Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDigital Twins: How Engineers Can Adopt Them To Enhance Performances Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDigital Progress and Trends Report 2023 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGPRS and 3G Wireless Applications: Professional Developer's Guide Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Managing Digital Risks: A Primer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnlocking the Potential of Digital Services Trade in Asia and the Pacific Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Introduction to SDN Intent Based Networking Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Managing the Development of Digital Marketplaces in Asia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDigital Technologies in Agriculture and Rural Areas: Status Report Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBroadband Strategies Handbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCellular Technologies for Emerging Markets: 2G, 3G and Beyond Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeveloping Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Digital Businesses and Beyond: A Diagnostic Toolkit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrategic Development of Technology in China: Breakthroughs and Trends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConcept-Oriented Research and Development in Information Technology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Swipe-Right Customer Experience: How to Attract, Engage, and Keep Customers in the Digital-First World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe DAP Strategy: A New Way of Working to De-Risk & Accelerate Your Digital Transformation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsE-commerce Evolution in Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Business For You
How To Pay Off Your Mortgage in 5 Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Productivity Hacks: 500+ Easy Ways to Accomplish More at Work--That Actually Work! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Intelligent Investor, Rev. Ed: The Definitive Book on Value Investing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emotional Intelligence: Exploring the Most Powerful Intelligence Ever Discovered Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Set for Life: An All-Out Approach to Early Financial Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat: The BRRRR Rental Property Investment Strategy Made Simple Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Robert's Rules Of Order Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Richest Man in Babylon: The most inspiring book on wealth ever written Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of J.L. Collins's The Simple Path to Wealth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Financial Words You Should Know: Over 1,000 Essential Investment, Accounting, Real Estate, and Tax Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tools Of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write a Grant: Become a Grant Writing Unicorn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, 20th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grant Writing For Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People You Don’t Agree with or Like or Trust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robert's Rules of Order: The Original Manual for Assembly Rules, Business Etiquette, and Conduct Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalism and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 3rd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Digital Africa
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Digital Africa - Tania Begazo
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1