An op-ed by Julien Barbier
With its mass adoption of new technologies, Africa has the opportunity to create the next disruptive startups and the global leaders of tomorrow.
The effects of the fourth industrial revolution in Africa have been taking everyone by surprise. While all eyes were turned to the US, Europe, and China, Africa was silently growing much faster than anyone anticipated, especially in financial technologies.
The combination of mass adoption of recent technologies in the region, without big monopolies nor outdated infrastructures, creates a never-seen-before opportunity for Africa to create the next disruptive startups and the global leaders of tomorrow.
While the US is busy maintaining a monopolistic financial system, built on old infrastructures and outdated technologies, Africa has the opportunity to build something better, faster, and stronger, without the massive technical debt the US is facing. With many people lacking access to a bank account, Africa has become a mobile-payment first continent, leading the way, just like China does, in that front.
In a ripple effect, the African mobile-payment and fintech ecosystem have unlocked other fields and markets, like e-commerce, which is also rising very fast. So much so that Africa has now the biggest potential for e-commerce in the world. The economic expansion and rising mobile internet penetration rates have created Jumia, its e-commerce giant.