By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Africa must move beyond
being a major user of technology to creating, owning and capturing more value
from the technologies shaping its digital future, Kenya’s Special Envoy on
Technology Philip Thigo has said.
Thigo made the remarks while
moderating a panel titled “The Future: Building Digital Africa’s Value
Change-Makers” at Unstoppable Africa 2026, following the keynote address by the
Prime Minister of Rwanda.
The panel brought together
Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, Chief Minister and Chief Innovation Officer of Sierra
Leone; Olugbenga Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave; Lisa Monaco, President of Global
Affairs at Microsoft; and Fatima Tambajang, Head of AI Ecosystem and Strategic
Partnerships, Emerging Markets at NVIDIA.
The discussion focused on
how Africa can transition from being a major consumer of technology to
creating, owning and capturing more of the value generated by digital
technologies.
Thigo said Africa has
talent, growing digital markets and rapidly increasing technology adoption, but
these capabilities need to be connected to compute, infrastructure, capital,
data, skills and markets.
He said strengthening these
connections can help transform technological adoption into productivity,
enterprises and jobs across the continent.
The panel also examined AI
safety, trust and technological agency, with discussions centred on Africa’s
role as frontier technologies continue to advance.
Thigo said African countries
must participate in determining how emerging technological systems are built,
evaluated and governed across the continent’s languages, contexts and use
cases.
The discussion brought
together perspectives from government, technology companies and the global
technology sector on the infrastructure, investment, skills, data and
governance requirements needed to strengthen Africa’s position in the digital
economy.
Thigo said Africa should be
a co-author of the technologies shaping its future, highlighting the need for
greater participation in the development and governance of emerging
technologies rather than limiting the continent’s role to adoption and
consumption.
