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Home / News and Events / Africa Investment Forum: Building out Africa’s ICT infrastructure can pave the
way for a digital leap forward

Africa Investment Forum: Building out Africa’s ICT infrastructure can pave the way for a digital leap
forward

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01-Nov-2022

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Smartphone use is forecast to continue growing rapidly across Africa, spurring demand for fintech and
telehealth services, among others.

One major lesson for Africa from the Covid-19 pandemic is that it had an outsize negative impact on
workers in jobs that cannot be performed remotely. Such jobs are typically in the informal sectors that
dominate Africa’s economies. Services and other sectors more amenable to remote work were far less
affected, which reduced the need for government social safety net interventions.

The pandemic also accelerated the digital transformation known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution
(4IR), which was already underway across the globe. As 4IR advances, Africa cannot afford to be left
behind. ICT technologies can overcome gaps in a number of key sectors including agribusiness,
communications and financial growth, unlocking better jobs, more effective tracking logistics for supply
chains and even improved healthcare outcomes.

Fortunately, the continent presents an immense opportunity across a range of areas including mobile
services, broadband infrastructure, and data storage. The continent’s young and fast-growing
population, which has come of age in the digital era, is hungry for tools and technologies to meet their
strong creative and entrepreneurial needs. And the absence of legacy infrastructure in many countries
offers an opening to adopt the latest standards and innovations.

Strong coordination between business, governments and other actors such as civil society and regional
agencies will be needed.

Days ahead of the opening of its Market Days 2022 event, the Africa Investment Forum is well placed to
play an integral role in channeling investment into information and communication infrastructure.

Africa Investment Forum founding institutions, the African Development Bank and the European
Investment Bank, supported the West Indian Ocean Cable Company(link is external) to deliver high-
capacity connectivity of over 550 locations in 30 African countries with key financial and commercial
centers around the world.
Demand for mobile services—particularly smartphones — is forecast to continue growing rapidly across
Africa. The GSMA, an association of the world’s largest number of mobile operators, projects that about
600 million Africans will subscribe to mobile services by 2025, up from 456 million in 2018. Mobile
broadband will spur demand not only for creative industries(link is external), but for services in fintech
and telehealth, creating a knock-on effect.

There is also surging demand for so-called backbone ICT infrastructure, which comprises many different
sorts of equipment. This includes root servers, fiber broadband lines, networking switches and routers
and cellular towers, to name a few. Building out of all of these elements represent opportunities for
investors to meet rampant demand but also significant job creation potential in construction,
installation and services.

The IFC and Google report, eConomy Africa 2020(link is external), projects an African Internet economy
that could reach $180 billion by 2025, accounting for 5.2% of the continent's GDP. By 2050, the potential
contribution could reach $712 billion, or 8.5% of the continent's GDP.

Another challenge that the Africa Investment Forum is working to overcome is the perception that
investing in Africa is risky. Working with partners like United States Trade and Development Agency, The
Africa Investment Forum prepares projects in its pipeline, getting them ready for investment.

Given the theme of the 2022 Market Days—building economic resilience through sustainable
investments—transactions involving smart and resilient infrastructure are likely to enjoy the spotlight.

The event, which takes place from 2-4 November, will showcase billions of dollars of ICT energy,
agribusiness and healthcare deals to investors. It will also promote sectors where Africa has a
comparative advantage, such as creative industries, music, film, textiles, and sports.

Since its inception in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum platform has mobilized investment interests in
excess of $100 billion.
The platform is an initiative of the African Development Bank and seven other development institutions:
Africa 50; the Africa Finance Corporation; the African Export-Import Bank; the Development Bank of
Southern Africa; the Trade and Development Bank; the European Investment Bank; and the Islamic
Development Bank.

©Ecofin/AfDB

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