Leapfrogging Africa

In this study, we look at the potential for development leaps in Africa in three key sectors that provided the basis for socioeconomic development around the world: health, education and agriculture. Advances in these sectors increase the human capital, create jobs and economic opportunities and have a positive influence on each other. Healthy and well-fed children can learn better; hygiene and better medical care diminish infant mortality, which reduces the desire for a large number of children; education for women promotes gender equality and causes birth rates to fall further. This creates a population structure under which the economy can grow particularly well: a demographic dividend becomes possible.

Offering invaluable insights into technologically-driven change in Africa, this incisive book envisions myriad positive economic changes brought about by new technologies and innovations. Rooted in original research from contributors who have worked and taught in Africa, it encapsulates developments and breakthroughs throughout the continent.

The world is entering the digital era. What does this mean for Africa? The conclusion is clear. With strong growth in mobile phone access, the gradual roll-out of broadband and myriad new startups, African innovation is moving full steam ahead with new uses and disruptive everyday solutions. In this book, Jean-Michel Huet presents five digital advances allowing Africa to skip development stages and get ready to overtake other continents. The five digital jumps, also known as 'leapfrogs', encompass the whole of the African economy, from telecoms to mobile financial services, e-commerce, e-government and the collaborative platform economy. With interviews and case studies, Africa and the Digital ‘Leapfrog’ reveals a modern Africa that is – at times – ahead of the rest of the world.

African countries face unprecedented challenges of defining a future development pathway in a resource- and carbon-constrained world. This book addresses this challenge, with special reference to the set of infrastructure that most African countries require to meet the sustainable development goals and fulfil the aspirations of Agenda 2063. Infrastructure is a key factor that determines how resource and energy flow and transform through socio-economic systems. Decisions made today by African countries on their infrastructural configuration will determine the inclusivity, resource intensity and climate resilience of their development pathways for decades to come. This book is a product of a two‑year research conducted by a group of African scholars who have an extensive academic and practical experience on the development of key infrastructure sectors in Africa.

This open access textbook offers a critical introduction to human and economic development prospects in Africa revolving around three questions: where is Africa today, what explains the current state, and, given historical trends and what we know about the world, where do we think the continent will be in 2040? And, a final question: what can we do to create a better tomorrow? It models ambitious progress in health, demographics, agriculture, education, industrialization, technological leapfrogging, increased trade, greater stability, better governance and external support. The book reviews the future of work/jobs, poverty and the impact of climate change. A combined Closing the Gap scenario presents a forecast of what could be possible by 2040. Each chapter suggests which policies might accelerate prospects for each sector. Written in an accessible style, and supported by a range of pedagogical features, this textbook introduces undergraduate and graduate students to the contemporary human and economic development prospects in Africa.

To effectively deliver sustainable management in practice for Africa, we need responsible leadership. We need to deepen our understanding of sustainability in the unique socio-political and economic context of the continent. The roles of various actors across public, private and non-profit sectors as enablers of sustainable development need to be explored to understand the social, economic and environmental (SEE) trends in Africa and its emerging and developing economies, as well as to chart the way forward for the continent. This first volume focuses on the African understanding of sustainability and its dimensions within its unique historical, social, environmental and political contexts. Through the lens of responsible leadership, the authors reflect on the implementation and extension of the SEE sustainability triad in ways unique to the African continent, especially in relation to the development of well-thought-out, healthy and enduring policy frameworks and the promotion of good governance. The African scope of the book is hinged on collaboration from authors across Africa and the inclusion of case stories from emerging economies in the five African subregions (East, West, North, Central and Southern Africa) within the chapters. The core message is that, to achieve effective and sustainable management and development for Africa, the practice of responsible leadership is critical.

The hope and hype about African digital entrepreneurship, contrasted with the reality on the ground in local ecosystems. In recent years, Africa has seen a digital entrepreneurship boom, with hundreds of millions of dollars poured into tech cities, entrepreneurship trainings, coworking spaces, innovation prizes, and investment funds. Politicians and technologists have offered Silicon Valley–influenced narratives of boundless opportunity and exponential growth, in which internet-enabled entrepreneurship allows Africa to “leapfrog” developmental stages to take a leading role in the digital revolution. This book contrasts these aspirations with empirical research about what is actually happening on the ground. The authors find that although the digital revolution has empowered local entrepreneurs, it does not untether local economies from the continent's structural legacies. Drawing on a five-year research project, the authors show how entrepreneurs creatively and productively adapt digital technologies to local markets rather than dreaming of global dominance, achieving sustainable businesses by scaling based on relationships and customizing digital platform business models for African infrastructure challenge. The authors examine African entrepreneurial ecosystems; show that African digital entrepreneurs have begun to form a new professional class, becoming part of a relatively exclusive cultural and economic elite; and discuss the impact of Silicon Valley's mythologies and expectations. Finally, they consider the implications of their findings and offer recommendations to policymakers and others.

The book examines the failures and some of the successes of Africa in its efforts to transform into a society where human security or development in the broadest sense is achieved. It is argued the African continent had, and will continue, to content with disruptions or change on its path to development. Development policy making in this regard, is an art of setting out strategies to build resilience and take advantage of disruptions or change in whatever format: political, economic, health, diplomatic, demographic or even environmental and climatic. The book discusses nine major disruptions in Africa’s socio-economic life and the limits imposed by the rhetoric in development policy: exclusion and social inequality, environmental degradation and climate change, natural resources and poor beneficiation, trade and aid, food insecurity, demography and migration, pandemics and disease burden, conflict and criminality and technology and innovation. The book is intended for intermediate students in African studies, Area Studies, Development Economics, Development Studies, Public Policy and Comparative Politics. In addition will be development practitioners working in developing countries, the UN system, multilateral development banks, donor agencies and regional economic communities in Africa.