AFRICAN GIANT: Given its unique position in terms of technological advancement, South Africa stands to be
the industry leader on the continent. Photo: Freepik
South Africa is uniquely positioned to shape the continent’s digital destiny, provided it leads responsibly, a leading academic and technologist has said.
The country has the infrastructure, talent and ambition to lead Africa into a technology-driven future, said Dr Siddhartha Paul Tiwari, who has advised national research bodies across the continent.
However leadership in the Digital Age is not just about innovation, but also inclusion, ethics and responsibility, Tiwari added in an interview.
As one of Africa’s most industrialised and connected economies, SA is in a position to either lead by example — building a tech ecosystem that benefits everyone — or risk deepening inequality in a country marked by social divides.
“SA can serve as a model for how to build a tech-driven but ethically grounded future, when it empowers a broad base of its population with digital skills and opportunities, it sets a benchmark for other African nations to follow,” he said.
The building blocks for leadership are in place. South Africa consistently ranks near the top among African nations in digital readiness and innovation. It boasts widespread mobile
connectivity, a thriving fintech and e-commerce sector, and several promising tech hubs that are attracting investment and ideas.
These are strong foundations for progress, but they must be backed by a deliberate effort to make technology work for all.That empowerment, however, must go beyond a few pilot projects.
While there are encouraging public-private partnerships offering digital training to young people and small businesses, these efforts remain limited and must be scaled up, especially in rural areas, where access to technology and digital education remains scarce.
South Africa’s strong legal and regulatory framework also sets it apart.
It was one of the first countries in Africa to introduce comprehensive data protection and cybercrime laws. The Protection of Personal Information Act and the Cybercrimes Act show a clear intent to balance technological progress with privacy, safety and accountability, something other nations can learn from.
The country’s research and academic community is another source of strength. Backed by the National Research Foundation, SA universities are producing world-class work in artificial intelligence and even frontier technologies like quantum computing and space-tech. Through international collaborations, they are positioning South Africa as a regional innovation hub.
But the real test of leadership lies not in how advanced the technology becomes, but in how inclusive it is.
“Technology must be a bridge, not a barrier and if South Africa can show that digital transformation reduces inequality and creates opportunity, it will inspire the rest of the continent.”
He said Africa’s readiness for AI and automation was a story of progress amid persistent gaps.
“In recent years, many African nations have moved from merely drafting digital strategies to implementing them. North African countries, for instance, gained a head start by investing early in e-government and national AI strategies aligned with their development visions.”
Beyond AI, emerging technologies like quantum computing and blockchain present exciting opportunities and serious risks for Africa. Quantum computing, while seemingly esoteric now, could one day revolutionise sectors such as healthcare, finance, transportation and energy once it matures.
Tiwari said a sufficiently advanced quantum algorithm might optimally manage traffic in a congested city like Nairobi or dramatically speed up drug discovery. In the nearer term, hybrid approaches like quantum machine learning could enhance AI applications potentially making data analysis faster and more secure.
These frontier tools offer Africa a chance to leap ahead in solving complex problems.
The continent is beginning to engage in such cutting-edge research. In 2019, IBM chose South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand as the first African academic partner in its global Quantum Network, giving researchers from 15 universities access to a 50-qubit quantum computer in the cloud.
One major concern is the risk of widening the knowledge and capacity gap, Tiwari said.
“Africa has lagged in R&D [research and development] investment for frontier tech. There are brilliant minds on the continent, but far too few advanced research labs or university programmes in fields like quantum science,” he said.
“Without building local expertise, Africa could remain merely a consumer of innovations developed elsewhere. We have to develop homegrown expertise.”
Another risk is premature adoption without safeguards. For example, blockchain and cryptocurrencies offer new avenues for financial inclusion and decentralised services, but also lead to scams and unregulated exchanges.
Deploying AI and automation without adequate data protection can threaten privacy or embed biases in decision-making systems. And as for quantum computing in the future it could even break current forms of encryption, posing security risks for African governments and banks just as for institutions globally. African policymakers must update regulatory frameworks to meet the frontier.
The benefits of advanced tech-|nologies must be widely shared, Tiwari said. If only a small elite understands or controls these tools, the Digital Revolution might deepen the divide between haves and have-nots.