All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, broader use can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of country populations averaged across Sub-Saharan Africa, but only 22 percent use such services. The average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers, as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: the affordability of these new technologies and the willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small and medium businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skill-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty across Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
Access to reliable electricity is a prerequisite for the economic transformation of African economies, especially in a digital age. Yet the electricity access rate in Sub-Saharan African countries is often substantially low, households and businesses with access often face unreliable service, and the cost of the service is often among the highest in the world. This situation imposes substantial constraints on economic activities, provision of public services, adoption of new technologies, and quality of life. Much of the focus on how best to provide reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity service to all has been on mitigating supply-side constraints. However, demand-side constraints may be as important, if not more important. On the supply side, inadequate investments in maintenance result in high technical losses; most state-owned utilities operate at a loss; and power trade, which could significantly lower the cost of electricity, is underdeveloped. On the demand side, the uptake and willingness to pay are often low in many communities, and the consumption levels of those who are connected are limited. Increased uptake and use will encourage investment to improve service reliability and close the access gap. This report shows that the fundamental problem is poverty and lack of economic opportunities rather than power. The solution lies in understanding that the overarching reasons for the unrealized potential involve tightly intertwined technical, financial, political, and geographic factors. The ultimate goal is to enable households and business to gain access, to afford to use, and utilities to recover their cost and make profits. The report makes the case that policy makers need to adopt a more comprehensive and long-term approach to electrification in the region—one centered on the productive use of electricity at affordable rates. Such an approach includes increased public and private investment in infrastructure, expanded access to credit for new businesses, improved access to markets, and additional skills development to translate the potential of expanded and reliable electricity access into substantial economic impact. Enhancing the economic capabilities of communities is the best way to achieve faster and more sustainable development progress while addressing the broad challenges of affordability, low consumption, and financial viability of utilities, as well as ensuring equitable provision between urban and rural areas.
Tous les pays africains ont besoin d'avantage d'emplois de qualité pour leurs populations croissantes. Le rapport « Afrique numérique : Transformation technologique pour l’emploi » montre qu'une utilisation plus large, par les entreprises et les ménages, des technologies numériques génératrices de productivité est impérative afin de générer de tels emplois, y compris pour les personnes peu qualifiées. Dans le même temps, cette démarche peut soutenir non seulement l'objectif à court terme de reprise économique postpandémique des pays, mais aussi leur vision d'une transformation économique assortie d’une croissance plus inclusive. Cependant, ces résultats ne seront pas automatiques. La disponibilité de l'internet mobile a augmenté sur l’ensemble du continent ces dernières années, mais l'écart d'utilisation est le plus élevé au monde. Les zones disposant d'au moins un service internet mobile 3G couvrent désormais 84 % en moyenne de la population des pays d'Afrique subsaharienne, mais seulement 22 % utilisent ces services. Et l'entreprise africaine moyenne accuse un certain retard en matière d'utilisation de smartphones et d’ordinateurs, ainsi que de technologies numériques plus sophistiquées qui contribuent à obtenir de nouveaux gains de productivité. Deux problèmes expliquent cet écart d'utilisation : l'absence d'abordabilité de ces nouvelles technologies et la de les utiliser. Pour les 40 % d'Africains qui vivent en dessous du seuil de pauvreté extrême, les forfaits de données mobiles coûteraient à eux seuls un tiers de leurs revenus, en plus du prix des appareils d'accès, des applications et de l'électricité. Les forfaits de données pour les petites et moyennes entreprises sont également plus chers que dans d'autres régions. De plus, la qualité des services internet †“ de même que la fourniture d'applications attrayantes et adaptées aux compétences qui favorisent l'entrepreneuriat et augmentent les revenus †“ présente des lacunes qui freinent la volonté des entreprises et populations de les utiliser. Pour les pays qui utilisent déjà ces technologies, les retombées du développement sont importantes. De nouvelles études empiriques réalisées pour le présent rapport s'ajoutent aux données sans cesse croissantes qui démontrent que la disponibilité de l'internet mobile augmente directement la productivité des entreprises, accroît le nombre des emplois, et réduit la pauvreté à travers l'Afrique. Pour que ces bénéfices ainsi que d'autres avantages se concrétisent plus largement, les pays africains doivent mettre en oeuvre des politiques complémentaires et synergiques afin de renforcer à la fois la capacité de payer des consommateurs et leur volonté d'utiliser les technologies numériques. Ces interventions doivent accorder la priorité à une utilisation productive en vue de générer un grand nombre d'emplois inclusifs dans une région sur le point de bénéficier d'une main-d'oeuvre massive et jeune, laquelle est appelée à devenir la plus importante du monde d'ici la fin du siècle.
All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, broader use can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of country populations averaged across Sub-Saharan Africa, but only 22 percent use such services. The average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers, as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: the affordability of these new technologies and the willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small and medium businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skill-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty across Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
Un accès fiable à l’électricité est un impératif pour toute économie moderne. La révolution numérique en fait davantage une exigence cruciale. Et pourtant, le taux d’accès à l’électricité en Afrique subsaharienne reste substantiellement faible. Les ménages et les entreprises sont confrontés à des problèmes de fiabilité et les coûts d’accès et d’usage sont parmi les plus élevés au monde. Cette situation constitue une contrainte majeure pour l’activité économique, la pénétration des nouvelles technologies de l’information, la qualité du service publique et le bien-être social. L’essentiel des efforts visant à garantir la fiabilité du service et à optimiser les coûts s’est focalisé sur l’atténuation des problèmes liés à l’offre. L’offre se caractérise en effet par des investissements inadéquats dans l’entretien des infrastructures entrainant des pertes techniques et financières importantes. Les échanges inter-Etats en matière d’énergie, qui éventuellement pourraient réduire les coûts liés à l’offre demeurent très faibles. Au-delà de l’offre, les contraintes liées à la demande sont parfois beaucoup plus sévères. Alors que la volonté de souscrire au service reste assez faible dans la plupart des communautés, le niveau d’utilisation ne s’est considérablement pas amélioré pour les ménages connectés au réseau. Une croissance de la consommation de l’électricité pourrait dès lors stimuler de nouveaux investissements et progressivement palier au déficit d’accès. Comment y parvenir ? Le livre Accès à l’electricité en Afrique subsaharienne démontre la pertinence d’aborder cette problématique principalement sous l’angle de la pauvreté et du manque d’opportunités plutôt que dans la perspective d’un défi lié à l’accès à l’énergie. L’objectif principal est de permettre non seulement aux ménages et aux entreprises d’avoir un accès fiable à l’électricité et les moyens d’en utiliser, mais surtout de faire en sorte que les compagnies d’électricité puissent recouvrer les coûts de production et de faire du profit. La solution est un mix complexe de facteurs financiers, politiques et géographiques. Le livre recommande que les décideurs adoptent une approche plus globale en mettant l’accent sur les objectifs de développement de long-terme et en se focalisant sur l’usage productif. Cette approche nécessite d’accorder plus d’importance aux problèmes de fiabilité et de systématiquement penser aux facteurs complémentaires nécessaires pour faciliter la promotion des activités génératrices de revenus.
Access to reliable electricity is a prerequisite for the economic transformation of African economies, especially in a digital age. Yet the electricity access rate in Sub-Saharan African countries is often substantially low, households and businesses with access often face unreliable service, and the cost of the service is often among the highest in the world. This situation imposes substantial constraints on economic activities, provision of public services, adoption of new technologies, and quality of life. Much of the focus on how best to provide reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity service to all has been on mitigating supply-side constraints. However, demand-side constraints may be as important, if not more important. On the supply side, inadequate investments in maintenance result in high technical losses; most state-owned utilities operate at a loss; and power trade, which could significantly lower the cost of electricity, is underdeveloped. On the demand side, the uptake and willingness to pay are often low in many communities, and the consumption levels of those who are connected are limited. Increased uptake and use will encourage investment to improve service reliability and close the access gap. This report shows that the fundamental problem is poverty and lack of economic opportunities rather than power. The solution lies in understanding that the overarching reasons for the unrealized potential involve tightly intertwined technical, financial, political, and geographic factors. The ultimate goal is to enable households and business to gain access, to afford to use, and utilities to recover their cost and make profits. The report makes the case that policy makers need to adopt a more comprehensive and long-term approach to electrification in the region—one centered on the productive use of electricity at affordable rates. Such an approach includes increased public and private investment in infrastructure, expanded access to credit for new businesses, improved access to markets, and additional skills development to translate the potential of expanded and reliable electricity access into substantial economic impact. Enhancing the economic capabilities of communities is the best way to achieve faster and more sustainable development progress while addressing the broad challenges of affordability, low consumption, and financial viability of utilities, as well as ensuring equitable provision between urban and rural areas.
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