8. Africa’s Digital Futures

What will it take for the African continent to make leaps of innovation and ride the wave of digital transformation? This chapter, building on the previous one, considers the meaning of digital transformation for the African continent. It examines the role of government in improving the ecosystem of the digital economy and assesses the kinds of initiatives that are required to place the African continent on a sustained innovation path. It also evaluates various constraints facing many African countries and proposes strategies to overcome these. To build a positive agency, African countries will need to shore up domestic institutional capabilities, improve their production profile, take a leap in innovation, and negotiate with external partners on a sounder institutional and economic basis.