A lot of what I studied when I was a young undergraduate student at Rhodes University and University of Cape Town, had to do with the field of information technology. How businesses, organizations of both public and the private sector, can optimize modern fast-paced technological sophistications to their benefit. By benefit, I mean maximized profits and business expansion.
Technological advancement has been the major driver of human development over the past centuries. Nations who rose from poverty to riches have done so because of the advances in technology.
Over the centuries technological advancement came in various kinds across civilizations. Globalization over the past decades maximized the benefits of technology all over the globe.
Like all phenomena in human history, technological advancement and adoption has been uneven across the world. That is not surprising, because across civilizations innovation and development have never ever been equal. Fernand Braudel, who was a French historian, and lived from 1902 to 1985 once said, “In no society have all regions and all parts of the population developed equally.” His words were true then and are still true today. Human society has never developed evenly.
With Africa lagging on technological advancement and adoption, in contrast to other continental regions around the globe, we are witnessing the reality that Braudel pointed out decades ago.
A shocking statistic I found when I was trying to understand internet connectivity in Africa this week, is that only 29% of Africans are connected to the internet – which is lowest in comparison to all the continents around the world – according to the International Telecommunication Union back in 2019.