Innovation is a key factor for growth and development. Most especially in africa with the combination of the young population and the growing adoption of technology, there is a backdrop for businesses in africa to leverage digital innovation.
Inviting young innovators to the table will open doors to more innovations tailored to solving African problems thereby boosting the economy and promoting growth as Africa’s technology market has been one with many untapped opportunities for growth that can be harnessed even more.
Education is essential in today’s world. Great education helps one to appreciate life more deeply and get more out of life. In africa, an unprecedented number of children complete primary school but don’t leave with the skills necessary not even in reading or higher education. However, proper education is the bedrock of innovation. Innovation is vital for any economy’s growth, relevance and stability, especially in africa. But right now, across the developing world, there simply aren’t enough jobs for the young people coming out of school, regardless of the quality of their education. Low- and middle-income countries around the world will need 520 million new jobs for youth coming out of school by 2030, and our current estimates are that 460 million will be created. All things remaining equal, that means 60 million young people are without jobs. Within Africa, more than 50 percent of employment will still be in agriculture as of 2020.
Currently, agricultural jobs pay poorly due to low productivity, which suggests that workers don’t have promising job alternatives. With the increasing adoption of mobile phones in africa, these devices in the hands of Africans have proven to be very beneficial because it opens them to a world of opportunities, especially education on the internet thereby bridging the skills gap. This shows the education sector in africa is ripe for disruption. In recent years, the African Union has concentrated on better ways to solve local problems. Facing many challenges, the continent is raising a generation of innovators who are investing in Africa’s technology development, taking a creative approach and non-standard thinking.
Agriculture forms a significant portion of the economies of all African countries. This sector contributes to major policies such as eradicating hunger and poverty, boosting intra-African trade and investment, and economic diversification. the dire need to improve the agricultural sector of Africa. Zenvus, a precision farming startup in Nigeria, uses computational algorithms to transform farms. Zenvus collects soil fertility and crop vegetative health data to deliver precision agriculture at scale. This data can be used by farmers to increase their agricultural yield. In tackling irrigation, KickStart, a nonprofit organization supplies portable water pumps to countries like Mali and Tanzania to improve their water storage systems. FarmDrive, a finance startup connects small-scale farmers to credit facilities and helps financial institutions increase their agricultural loan portfolios in Kenya. With the global population expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, producing enough food of sufficient quality and making it accessible and affordable for people around the world is one of the most important policy objectives of our time.
With climate-smart production technologies and Africa’s productive potential, it can be a key contributor to feeding the world. These are some of the ways technology has been put to use in the agricultural sector. Much of Africa’s growth over the decades has been driven by the extraction and sale of its natural resources, whether it is oil from Nigeria, gold from Tanzania, or iron from Mauritania.
To accelerate development, investing in the creation of new technologies must be done to improve our industries. Technological innovation must be prioritized in tackling our socio-economic challenges to ensure our productivity on a global scale. The promise of Africa’s tech generation leading us to accelerated development is a path few have walked on.
