Building Resilience in Africa: Enabling an Inclusive Digital Economy and Energy Access for All

The policy brief advocates for an integrated strategy to build resilience in Africa by combining decentralised renewable energy solutions with expanded digital economy access. It highlights that current energy and internet deficits hinder the continent's ability to respond to crises like COVID-19 and climate change. The document calls for an AU-EU partnership to invest in green energy, broadband infrastructure, and ICT skills to drive inclusive economic growth and improve health and education outcomes.

• The COVID-19 pandemic exposed severe vulnerabilities in Africa, where low resilience is closely linked to limited access to critical energy services and the digital economy. This lack of access prevents populations from utilizing safer, socially distanced socio-economic activities such as online banking, digital health, and online education, effectively making digital economy access a human right.
• Energy access in Africa is significantly below the global average, with sub-Saharan Africa's access rate at 43% compared to a global average of 87%. Even in South Africa, where 75% of households have grid connectivity, reliability and affordability issues persist, often leaving low-income households without power after their monthly basic electricity grants are exhausted.
• Decentralised renewable and low-carbon energy solutions are identified as the critical path to increasing energy access in Africa. This is necessary because centralised electricity solutions have failed to reach large portions of the population and global decarbonisation is required to mitigate climate change.
• There is a significant digital divide in Africa, with less than one-third of the population having internet access, compared to 88% in North America. To achieve universal access, approximately 1.1 billion people in Africa need to be brought online.
• The document recommends that AU-EU policymakers collaborate on a comprehensive package of solutions to address energy and digital poverty. This includes investing in decentralised green energy, subsidising high-speed internet, developing ICT skills in curricula and adult education, and promoting e-commerce, e-health, and digital financial services to support youth employment and enterprise development.
• Increasing internet penetration in emerging economies has a direct positive impact on economic growth, with a 10% increase in penetration driving a 1.2% increase in GDP per head growth.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2020). Building Resilience in Africa: Enabling an Inclusive Digital Economy and Energy Access for All. https://saiia.org.za/research/building-resilience-in-africa-enabling-an-inclusive-digital-economy-and-energy-access-for-all/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Building Resilience in Africa: Enabling an Inclusive Digital Economy and Energy Access for All. 2020. https://saiia.org.za/research/building-resilience-in-africa-enabling-an-inclusive-digital-economy-and-energy-access-for-all/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Building Resilience in Africa: Enabling an Inclusive Digital Economy and Energy Access for All |date=27 September 2020 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/building-resilience-in-africa-enabling-an-inclusive-digital-economy-and-energy-access-for-all/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2020building, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Building Resilience in Africa: Enabling an Inclusive Digital Economy and Energy Access for All}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/building-resilience-in-africa-enabling-an-inclusive-digital-economy-and-energy-access-for-all/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }