The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said that the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has the potential to transform Africa’s economy, increase its productivity and enhance its global trade.
In doing this, AfDB said this would dramatically improve the wellbeing of African citizens, and make them more competitive. AfDB in its ‘Unlocking the Potential of the Fourth industrial Revolution in Africa’ study, with focus on Nigeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Africa and Uganda, believed that these countries, especially Nigeria, represent the different combination of strengths and weaknesses that African countries possess.
The 4IR represents a fundamental change in the way people live, work and relate to one another. It is a new chapter in human development, enabled by extraordinary technology advances commensurate with those of the first, second and third industrial revolutions. These advances are merging the physical, digital and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and potential peril.
According to the regional development bank, in the past, Africa was unable to benefit and capitalise on the opportunities brought about by previous industrial revolutions. It pointed out that this weakened its position in relation to international competitors.
In light of the benefits and challenges posed by the 4IR, AfDB in the report noted that Africa cannot afford to, nor does it have to, miss out on the opportunities brought about by the revolution.
According to AfDB, with a growing number of business users and end consumers, the 4IR is starting to become a reality in Africa. It pointed out that studies, which dated back to 2015 projected high growth in African start-up technological entrepreneurs, identifying 3,500 new technology-related ventures and an anticipated $1 billion in venture capital by 2018.AdvertisementAdvertisement
In 2019, it was revealed that reality has surpassed projections, as approximately 6,500 technology start-ups were identified on the continent, among which about 10 per cent develop 4IR applications (712 start-ups). They received $210 million in venture capital investments of the overall $2.27 billion investments in technology start-ups. However, AfDB noted that not all of these startups by any means are focused on the 4IR (many are in the realm of digitisation) but the basis for Africa’s growth into 4IR is already there.
On the supply side, the report noted that Africa cannot as of today be characterised as a producer of 4IR technologies, but rather as an adopter of existing technologies produced and developed elsewhere in the world. These products and services are often developed by foreign corporations or start-ups (e.g. Thales, Airbus, Zipline) but also by African corporations or start-ups to meet African demand.
It stressed that Africa’s large population, which is expected to double by 2050 to 2.4 billion, presents both a source of data to feed innovation in 4IR technologies as well as a dorma