Development in the African American community opens up opportunities. One of the reasons for this, amongst others, is its backwardness in technology. Africa is far behind in technological development in all fairs of life. This retardment in technology is intertwined in many factors: Education, Believe system, Economic and political will.
Education: Africa, though blessed with bright minds, isn’t beneficial as it’s very retarding and backward. With more theory than practical, this is far below the concept of an ideal technological economy as it’s falling heavily on a radicalized educational system. A system that trains students and conditions their minds in thinking tackling real-life situations by offering innovative solutions is all the basis and beginning of technology.
Belief system; Africa is known for old and outdated beliefs and lifestyles, which are very primitive and resistive to development. This belief system has locked up the minds of many great Africans, causing them not to think innovatively and out of the box and proper solutions to real-life situations. They believe and consider anything that happens is born out of some divine and spiritual circumstances. They turn to point fingers and criticize innovation, hence killing the spirit and will for more innovative minds.
Economic and political will: Africa is a continent filled with countries with the lowest GDP and the worse or poorest system of leadership ever; despite the bright minds in Africa, the lack of economic power and political will to push these minds makes it difficult for them to strive and cope under such harsh conditions.
In the most common cases, we have seen very bright and innovative minds end up in the streets as all their efforts to strive and build from scratch were twatted by the economic and political system. Despite this, we have seen a rise in the growth of technology in Africa in key sectors like Agriculture, energy, finance; just to name a few, there have been a swift shit and a radical boost in technology in the African economy. In this article, I will just talk about some tech companies dominating Africa.
Online learning or E-learning
This has been a rising tech sector, but after the outbreak of coronavirus, this sector was boasted as persons couldn’t sit in the classroom, many institutions had to switch to online or distance learning options to minimize the effect of cov19 and curb its spread, this is however not 100% successful as it’s plagued with several challenges such as internet connection issues, and the case of many students not having access to smart devices for learning coupled with a power failure in Africa. But this sector has continued to experience growth as more and more institutions seek improvement. From what I see in the space of 5-15years, the learning system of Africa will ultimately be a digitalized system of learning.
E-money/ Mobile finance: The recent trends in technological development have seen a rise in what is known as e-money, with cryptocurrency taking the central stage; people now buy and sell online without using physical cash. They operate their accounts, buy stocks, and exchange online without any physical touch or exchange.
Though it’s still prolonged and feared in the African communities yet it’s an unavoidable sector of technological development, weren’t anyone who does accept this fast-growing sector and adapt to it may become absolute and a lagger in the nearest future as there’s a drastic shift from physical money and exchange to E-money. This led to the rise of tech-based financial management institutions cryptocurrency training institutions that train persons on the new tech trend with E-money.
Technology in the Business sector; it might interest you to know there has also been a rise in what is known as online shops, people do buy and sell at the comfort of their homes without necessarily going physical to the market to purchase the goods, people import, and export to foreign nations using the online market platforms. This is a reigning and new sector in the African economy, and it’s fast taking over the physical market as it comes with convincing and high potential for profit despite the high risk associated with it.
This is operational, no doubt, but it’s plagued with several developmental challenges. Issues lack planning on the part of the municipal council is acting as hindrances as Google maps, and other identification devices can’t track or map out transaction areas due to these planning errors, added to unstable internet connections and many more, despite this Africa is still waxing strong and growing in this sector.
Conclusion
The rise in technology is a fast and unavoidable issue; it’s the future though Africa is still far behind from the rest of the world, but it’s promise to come up to terms with the new wave of change, and this lies solely on the shoulders of its youths who are capable of bringing this changes. Still, their community must build a convinced and open system where innovation and skills can thrive.