There is an undiscovered ‘gold mine’ with immense untapped opportunity within the information and communication technology (ICT) and broadband sectors that can enable Africa’s economic prosperity, says Ericsson Uganda country manager Donald Waigumbulizi.

Digital infrastructure is increasingly becoming central to societal developments around the world and enabling rapid improvements to industrial production and societal services.

It is also central to the functioning of Africa’s societies and economies, and affordable broadband access will need to be extended to billions of individuals across the growing continent.

“Africa has gone a long way in its digitisation journey from mobile telephony to broadband – connecting and digitising entire sectors, economies, jobs, education, healthcare, government and societies,” he says.

Africa is home to over a billion people, and its population is expected to grow from 17% of the global population in 2020 to 26% in 2050 and 39% by 2100.

Comparatively, Asia’s percentage of the global population will fall from 59% in 2020 to 55% in 2050 and 43% in 2100.

“To accelerate its journey towards economic prosperity, the continent will have to take advantage of the new technologies to improve the government, business environment and society,” Waigumbulizi points out.

“ICT allows people, knowledge and devices to be connected in new ways, and African countries that embrace its potential can create new value, operate efficiently and benefit from significant return on investment.”

Further, the current Covid-19 restrictions could prove to be an opportunity for Africa to accelerate its journey towards raising the role digital and telecommunications services play in a socioeconomical context, particularly in improving access to health, education and government services, and promoting financial inclusion.

“Modernising technological innovation towards the challenges countries are experiencing will help Africa emerge from the economic challenges in a more sustainable manner,” he continues.

However, a framework that embeds ICT squarely within efforts to address inclusive socioeconomic development in Africa is now required.

“To kick-start a technology-enabled transformation and realise its benefits, policymakers need to take a broader, more coherent policymaking approach,” he says.

Global partnerships will be critical to enable a cross-industry engagement in defining and building the technology ecosystem of the future.

“Ericsson is a strong believer [in] using technology to create sustainable improvements in societies and [using] mobile broadband networks to tackle a range of global challenges,” he says.