Faith Nyasuguta
This month, a survey involving over 4,500 Africans from Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana revealed that 91.7 per cent of Africans are likely to use technology solutions made in Africa.
Dubbed ‘The Africa Innovation Impact Report’ the study compiled by Talking Drum Communications and Survey54 noted that the recent wave of technology innovation coming out of Africa is changing how Africans view the continent.
When questioned whether recent developments in African technology had impacted their perception of the continent, 4 out of 5 (84.6%) answered “yes”.
In addition, 9 out of 10 respondents (91.7%) said they are likely to use technology solutions made in Africa mainly because Africans are innovative and entrepreneurial.
Another key insight from the survey showed that education (21.1 per cent) is considered the most impacted sector by technology innovation in Africa over the last two years. More than financial services (18.3%) and entertainment (15.1%).
When asked which African technology stories they were most excited to read, 29.8% of the respondents said: “funding stories”, closely followed by “expansion stories” (28%) and “partnership stories” (27%).
Giving his views on the findings of the report, Olugbeminiyi Idowu, Founder and Managing Director of Talking Drum Communications, said, “ Based on the data we have gathered, the innovation coming out of Africa is not only changing the way people live and work, but it is also changing the way people think, how they view themselves as Africans and driving demand for more innovation.”
“There is a growing appetite for these innovations from African users and global investors, and there is much to be excited about what the future holds.”
The Africa Innovation Impact Report highlighted job creation (51%) as the biggest edge of Africa’s growing digital economy. This is more than the exposure of the younger population to technology (29.3%), growing financial inclusion (12.4%) and the potential to plug infrastructure gaps on the continent (7.1%).
The report deduced that an innovation narrative has emerged in Africa in recent years, as investments into African startups grew 18x between 2015 and 2021, and funding for African startups grew 2x faster than global rates between 2020 and 2021.
