Africa’s future is innovation rather than industrialization

How Africa can grab the 4IR opportunity

The continent must also overcome significant hurdles if it is to grab the 4IR opportunity and become the global hotbed of innovation. Three ingredients are key to making that grab:

1. Definitively tackling the digital hygiene gaps

The single basic requirement for any tech center is access to cutting-edge digital connectivity, which has come in leaps and bounds across Africa as mobile adoption has accelerated. However, many “last mile” or even “last 50 meters” connectivity gaps remain, the allocation of licensed spectrum is sporadic, and government-driven internet shutdowns continue to plague countries like Somalia and Ethiopia. What’s more, reliable access to energy, clean water and other resources is not a given, while digital tools do not completely remove the need for effective road systems and transportation links.

2. Gaining useful, actionable insights from the data glut

It’s become common to refer to data as “the new oil,” and in one sense, it is. According to research, the big data analytics market is set to reach $103 billion by 2023, and it’s estimated that every person will generate 1.7 megabytes in just one second by 2020. On the other hand, data is nothing like oil because it’s not a finite resource. Far from it. This presents an opportunity for Africa, if it can turn the forthcoming glut of bits and bytes into useful, actionable insights that can be accessed and shared easily. To do this, cross-continental policies and standards for the generation, regulation, use and management of data will need to be developed–a not inconsiderable task.

3. Building the new skills needed – against the clock

As already mentioned, machinery on its own isn’t enough to succeed in the 4IR–you also need to know how to run it. Africa is by no means alone in facing a potential gap here, not only in the specialist technical skills required to work with emerging technologies, but also in the complementary capabilities to help people adapt to an ever-changing job market. It’s necessary to fast-track moves to skill and reskill the future and existing workforce, making sure adjustments are addressed early within the education ecosystem and refined on an ongoing basis through further education and life-long learning.

The need for an innovation ecosystem

To do all of this effectively, today’s fragmented efforts must be turned into a cohesive approach. Institutions like the African Union and Africa50 along with the Africa Growth Platform and the C4IR have sown the seeds for pan-African collaboration and investment, but more public-private partnerships are essential. The World Bank suggests the comparative success of certain African tech clusters can be attributed to the establishment of “organic, multi-stakeholder ecosystems” and that these are more effective than initiatives led by government, the private sector or academia alone.

If Africa can develop these clusters further and create an integrated innovation ecosystem to tackle the 4IR, it stands to supercharge its economies, its societies and the livelihoods of millions.

****

This article is part of the World Economic Forum on Africa