A new era of digital cooperation: embracing Africa and Europe’s 4th Industrial Revolution

Africa’s young people are leading a digital revolution with enormous potential for economic and social development, participants at the latest ‘Debating Africa-EU’ online event heard Thursday. However, the continent’s technological transformation needs support to strengthen access and connectivity, fund infrastructure and training, and build a fair and safe regulatory framework.

“It’s absolutely obvious that there is a huge potential to create growth and jobs through the digital transformation and through the data economy,” (17:17) said Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market. “In order to do this … we should work together, EU with Africa, to see how we can help you to build your own African single market, that will allow for better economic and regional integration and boost, of course, economic growth.”

Breton was among senior officials from the European Union and African Union joining key stakeholders, business figures and civil society representatives from both sides of the Mediterranean in the ‘Debating Africa-EU’ series. The debates are feeding into agenda-setting for the forthcoming AU-EU summit which, Breton said, would discuss the creation of a digital single market for Africa.

Although COVID-19 is setting back African development, Amani Abou-Zied, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, ICT and Tourism, told the debate that the pandemic could provide a boost for the continent’s digital transformation.

“This pandemic, surprisingly, became the single best catalyst for digital transformation in the world and especially in Africa. Now, the race is on and it’s not about whether we digitalise or not, it’s rather how and how fast,” (8:27) she said. “It’s really encouraging to see governments and private sector, everyone across the continent reviewing their business models, their infrastructure, the platforms they have, to make sure they are wider and more accessible and that they are digitalised.”

Cooperation with Europe should focus on sustaining that progress and maintaining the momentum generated by Africa’s youthful tech forces, argued Lacina Koné, Director-General and CEO of Smart Africa, a partnership between 30 African countries to expand usage of information and communications technologies and access to broadband.

“If we are to make a sustainable social and economic development within both continents’ interests in this new paradigm, it is important to point out that sustainability in this new area is driven by the innovation that our young people have, with the presence of an inclusive participation of the population as a whole,” (38:43) he said. “When we talk about connectively, we have to talk about meaningful connectivity, we need access to devices.”

Europe is aware of those crucial changes and of the importance of digitalisation for the wider economy and climate action, said Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships. That will be reflected in the summit agenda and in EU development programming following the approval of the Union’s new seven-year financial framework.

“Digital transformation is an opportunity for all our citizens. It provides youth with more skills to access a competitive job market, improves public services and enables citizens to work or study from home,” (5:13) she said. “The digital transformation and the green transition go hand in hand … they make one another more successful.”