FEATURE
THE AFRICAN INTERNET CONNECTIVITY JOURNEY IS ON ITS PATH TO GLOBAL ECONOMIC SUCCESS BY DAVID EURIN
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fricans are getting ready to take over the world. This may not be a sentiment the developed world tends to agree with, but it is time to acknowledge the facts. Around 17% of the world’s population reside in Africa and according to an article by the World Economic Forum, the urban population of Africa is expected to nearly triple by 2050. Couple this with the fact that Africa sports the world’s youngest and fastest-urbanising population and you have got yourself a recipe for growth. But what’s stopping them from taking their rightful place in the world economy? The answer to this question is obviously complicated and full of history and nuance, but I would argue that one
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structural obstacle still stands firm in the way of Africa’s economic metamorphosis. There is not just enough of Internet connectivity. The World Bank posits that the digital economy forms 15.5% of global GDP, which is growing two and a half times faster than global GDP over the past 15 years. Research reveals that a simple 10% increase in mobile broadband penetration in Africa would result in an increase of 2.5% of GDP per capita. According to the UN’s International Telecommunication Union, Africa is home to approximately 700 million of the world’s 3.7 billion unconnected people. As we ourselves experience every day (think what happens if your Internet