Strengthening Africa's Digital Infrastructure for Greater Economic Resilience

The document identifies significant gaps in Africa's 'hard' (physical) and 'soft' (electronic) digital infrastructure, noting that limited wired connectivity and a lack of formal identity systems exclude large portions of the population from the digital economy. It recommends that the African Union establish continental regulatory forums to reduce policy fragmentation and that the African Development Bank prioritise wired, terrestrial networking to lower costs and increase reliability. To address 'last-mile' connectivity, the report suggests using blockchain-based social-impact bonds to attract private investment. Furthermore, it proposes adopting open-access identity and payment platforms based on the India Stack model and creating an African digital integration index to track progress.

• Africa suffers from significant gaps in both 'hard' and 'soft' digital infrastructure. Hard infrastructure deficits include limited fibre-optic distribution—concentrated mainly in South Africa and Nigeria—and severe electricity shortages, with an estimated 645 million Africans lacking power in 2016. Soft infrastructure gaps are evidenced by the fact that nearly 500 million African citizens lack any form of identity, and only 30% are formally registered with birth certificates.
• Digital infrastructure development is unevenly distributed and often controlled by a few actors. Multinational technology firms like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon lead connectivity projects, while Huawei provides 50% of the continent's 3G and 70% of its 4G infrastructure. This has led to a situation where mobile network operators act as 'gatekeepers,' making digital services unaffordable for the poor majority and reducing incentives for innovation.
• Policy and regulatory fragmentation across African nations reduces their leverage when negotiating with private-sector partners and multinational companies. The report recommends that the African Union establish continental and regional forums to create a consistent 'African digital integration policy framework' to enable a single digital market and seamless trade under the AfCFTA Agreement.
• There is a critical need for wired, terrestrial digital networking infrastructure, especially in landlocked countries, to improve reliability over satellite and mobile alternatives. The report argues the African Development Bank should prioritise this high-risk investment to reduce broadband costs, while national governments handle 'last-mile' projects.
• To attract private investment for last-mile connectivity, the report proposes a blockchain-based social-impact bond (SIB) system. This would use smart contracts to ensure transparency and set clear conditions for returns, aligning private investor interests with public social outcomes.
• The report suggests African governments adopt the 'India Stack' model—a set of open-source application programming interfaces (APIs)—to build public digital infrastructure for identity and payments. This approach treats payment infrastructure as a public utility to increase financial inclusion.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2023). Strengthening Africa's Digital Infrastructure for Greater Economic Resilience. https://saiia.org.za/research/strengthening-africas-digital-infrastructure-for-greater-economic-resilience/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Strengthening Africa's Digital Infrastructure for Greater Economic Resilience. 2023. https://saiia.org.za/research/strengthening-africas-digital-infrastructure-for-greater-economic-resilience/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Strengthening Africa's Digital Infrastructure for Greater Economic Resilience |date=31 August 2023 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/strengthening-africas-digital-infrastructure-for-greater-economic-resilience/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2023strengthening, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Strengthening Africa's Digital Infrastructure for Greater Economic Resilience}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/strengthening-africas-digital-infrastructure-for-greater-economic-resilience/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }