Accelerating Africa’s digital transformation for mutual African and U.S. economic prosperity
According to Google's Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager, the Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA) initiative opens up new economic prospects for the continent. In this document, she outlines a series of key recommendations for mutually beneficial collaboration between Africa and the United States.
By Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe*
During the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the launch of an $800 million initiative on Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA). DTA comes at a time when the African internet economy has been deemed “one of the largest investment opportunities of the past decade” and one that, despite setbacks from COVID-19, is on track to expand and further transform lives in the coming decade. The African Union’s (AU) Digital Transformation Strategy reflects growing political consensus that adopting digital technologies can create economic opportunities for Africa and the world. The market opportunity is clear: African governments are endeavoring to facilitate universal digital access for the 800 million Africans expected to be online by 2030, and an internet economy potential worth $180 billion by 2025.
African internet economy has been deemed “one of the largest investment opportunities of the past decade
Africa’s young, entrepreneurial, and digitally savvy population is fueling a mobile phone revolution that is vastly changing the competitive landscape of Africa’s digital economy for U.S., Chinese, and global technology providers for everything ranging from digital infrastructure to social media platforms and e-commerce solutions. These realities have created an imperative for the U.S. government to partner with the private sector to implement a robust digital foreign policy agenda for Africa that can keep up with the pace of this rapidly evolving market and maintain U.S. competitive advantage.
This publication provides concrete policy recommendations for how DTA’s three pillars (Digital Economy and Infrastructure, Human Capital Development, and Digital Enabling Environment) can be implemented by focusing on the opportunities in Africa’s startup ecosystem. The paper also highlights U.S. public private partnership opportunities in infrastructure, talent, and regulatory frameworks.
**Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe is Google’s Head for Pan-African Institutions, Government Affairs & Public Policy, where she oversees policy engagement with the African Union Commission, UN Economic Commission for Africa, African Development Bank, among other regional organizations. For nearly two decades, Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe has helped to advance humanitarian, economic, health, environmental, and tech policies in Africa. This included through diplomatic roles as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Organizations, Bureau of African Affairs, and overseas assignments in Mali, Morocco, and Ethiopia. While serving as Economic Officer at the U.S. Mission to the African Union, Pren-Tsilya spearheaded U.S. commercial advocacy efforts on the African Continental Free Trade Area. Before joining the State Department, she led a non-profit organization that provided humanitarian assistance in Cote d’Ivoire.
This paper is part of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit series. The full series is available to read here.
The Brown Capital Management Africa Forum is a premier platform for substantive and solutions-oriented dialogue on key trade, investment, and sustainable development issues in Africa, and in U.S.-Africa relations. Launched in 2015, the Africa Forum conducts research on key development issues and provides a high-level platform for convening Africa, U.S., and international business leaders, policymakers and subject matter experts in forward-leaning policy-oriented dialogue aimed at advancing sustainable development in Africa and fostering mutually beneficial economic relations between Africa and the United States. The Brown Capital Management Africa Forum is made possible by the generous financial support of Brown Capital Management, LLC (Baltimore, Maryland).
