Africa: The Internet economy could generate $180 billion in 2025

The digital age could be the key to Africa's development and could change the trajectory of the region's economies.

According to the report "e-Conomy Africa 2020" published on November 11 by Google and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), "the digital economy can and must change the course of Africa's history" because the exploitation of this sector could accelerate the continent's economic growth with a contribution of 180 billion dollars, or 99,976 billion CFA francs, by 2025. The projected potential contribution could reach $712 billion by 2050.

This improvement will be the result of increased access "to faster and better internet connectivity, a rapidly growing urban population, Africa's commitment to creating the world's largest single market under the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), and above all a dynamic ecosystem driven by growing technology startups," the report says.

In addition, with around 700,000 technology startups operating on the continent and in the current context of Covid-19, "this is the right time to harness the power of the latter to find essential solutions to improve access to education, health care and finance, and ensure a more robust recovery (...)", said Stephanie von Friedeburg Acting Director General, IFC.

As a sign of their dynamism, African tech startups raised a record $1.3 billion in private equity investment in 2019, up from $1.16 billion in 2018.

Olivia Yao

Publié le 13/11/20 18:03