1、 2022 Boston Consulting Group1Africas Opportunity in Digital Skills andClimate AnalyticsNOVEMBER 04,2022 By Patrick Dupoux,Qahir Dhanani,Tolu Oyekan,Sana Rafiq,and Karol YearwoodThe continent is rich in youthful,entrepreneurial energy.Well-plannedinvestments now can help Africa transform itself into

2、 a global center oftechnological and ecological innovation.Africa is at the cusp of massive growth and acceleration in the world.By 2050,about 40%of the worlds population under 18 will have been born and raised inAfrica.This demographic trend is one of several that will change the trajectory on 2022

3、 Boston Consulting Group2the continent.Other key trends include the rise of megacities,disproportionateimpacts of climate change,and accelerating global engagement on the part ofgovernments and other institutions.With continued and robust investment anddevelopment in Africa,its 1.3 billion people ar

4、e likely to become the worlds mostrapidly expanding workforce and consumer market.Many opportunities exist to amplify and accelerate economic progress in Africafrom education and health care to agriculture and technology.Two,in particular,stand out as potential game changers.The first is a concerted

5、 effort to mainstreamdigital skills among all Africans,particularly young Africans entering the globalworkforce.The second is unlocking the power of data analytics to build a moreclimate-resilient Africa.If these opportunities get the resourcing,attention,and focus they deserve,thenAfrica will becom

6、e home to multiple global centers of innovation.A recent USAIDreport prepared with support from BCG found that Africa has a compelling needand the right capabilities to realize its innovation potential.Doing so,will take acollective effort by national governments,the private sector,civil society,and

7、Africas development partners.The Challenge of Rising Digital SkillsAfricas digital and technology sectors are poised for growth.Sub-Saharan Africasinternet penetration has increased tenfold since 2010,three times the rate of globalexpansion.According to projections,Africas digital economy will reach

8、$180Mainstreaming digital skills and unlocking the powerof climate analytics are potential game changers inaccelerating economic progress in Africa.2022 Boston Consulting Group3billion by 2025,and$712 billion by 2050.The continent has developed a vibrantinnovation ecosystem in fields like mobile fin

9、ancial services,telemedicine,and e-commerce.Many Africans want to become entrepreneurs in these fields.In 2019,Africa had more than 600 technology hubsorganizations offering facilities andsupport for digital startupswith at least a third of them emerging since 2018.Investment in technology startups

10、reached just over$700 million in 2020,compared with$492 million in 2019.COVID-19 accelerated the move to digital activity,especially when governmentsand businesses championed mobile-based services as an alternative to face-to-facecontact.Many of these changes are continuing.For example,the telemedic

11、inemarket in the Middle East and Africa is estimated at more than$3.8 billion in 2022and is expected to reach$6.4 billion by 2027.Despite all this momentum in the digital and technology sectors,Africa still has along way to go.The continent still has the lowest worldwide internet usage rate.Only abo

12、ut 40%of the population has internet access,compared to the globalaverage of 66%.Given the internets potential to drive positive impact and theyouthful demographics of Africas population,increasing access to the internet iscritical.About 87 percent of African business leaders identify digital skills

13、 development asa priority area in need of further investment.Currently,African countries scorebetween 1.8 and 5 on the Digital Skills Gap Index,far below the global average of6.Of the worlds 20 countries with the weakest digital skills,12 are in Africa,andonly 11%of Africas tertiary education gradua

14、tes have formal digital training.Inshort,to meet the demand for digital services on the continent,650 millionworkers would need to be trained or retrained in digital skills by 2030.For technology and education enterprises to meet this massive demand,investments in four types of interventions are via

15、ble.They all complement eachother,and address both short-and long-term needs.(See Exhibit 1.)Putting theminto place will require several different types of organizations and groups in12 2022 Boston Consulting Group4partnership:the local private sector,on-the-ground incubators(funding andfostering en

16、trepreneurial startups),global technology companies,and institutionsof higher education:local colleges in Africa and universities in the US and Europe.Global partners can support and play a role in each of these intervention channels.Global technology companies are already beginning to invest in Afr

17、ica;theUSTDAs Access Africa program has included companies such as Citi,Cisco,andIBM.Some top-tier universities are developing programs in Africa(such asCarnegie Mellon University Africa in Rwanda)or collaborating with localeducational institutions.African universities,for their part,are expanding t

18、o keepup with the growing college-age population,and the number of globally rankedAfrican universities is rising.The local private sector is also increasingly active indeveloping skills,and large companies are establishing technology startupincubators in cities like Nairobi,Lagos,and Johannesburg.Al

19、l of these efforts mayfind increasing support from African governments,many of which have publisheddigital strategies.3 2022 Boston Consulting Group5Climate Analytics and PlanningThe second opportunity for transforming the continent is borne of necessity.Africa is disproportionately vulnerable to th

20、e effects of climate change.Althoughthe continent has contributed to less than 4%of global greenhouse gas emissions,16 of the 20 most climate-vulnerable nations in the world are in Africa.Moreover,33 out of the 54 African countries rank in the bottom quartile of world nations inreadiness to deal wit

21、h climate change.Only 8 out of the 54 African countries havetaken the preliminary step of submitting comprehensive national adaptation plans(NAPs)of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC),whichare oen used to channel investment in infrastructure,land use,and food security.Decision mak

22、ers have long articulated a need for support to understand the risks,financing needs,and trade-offs related to climate change,especially for the most-vulnerable populations.Today,data-informed planning is constrained by theinsufficient quality and granularity of climate data for the African continen

23、t.Analytic capabilitieswhich are needed to apply the data and insights to real-world decision making and actionare also limited.(See Exhibit 2.)Investment inthese competences is critically important for the continent.It will enable evidence-based decision making by building up the necessary infrastr

24、ucture and skills.2022 Boston Consulting Group6Its clear that further development in this area is feasible,as evidenced by severalsuccessful Africa-based projects using data and information to mitigate crisesrelated to climate.One project is the Famine Early Warning Systems Network(FEWS NET),which w

25、as started in 1985 by USAID.It tracks and analyzes foodsecurity for 30 African countries.FEWS NET helped alert and mobilizegovernments and NGOs to reduce famine levels during the droughts of 2011 and20162017.Another is the Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa(WISER),implemented by the

26、 UK-Met Office and the African Climate PolicyCentre of the UN Economic Commission for Africa,to improve weatherforecasting and information services on the continent.Exhibit 3 shows four interrelated areas with great promise for enhancing climate-related analytics capacity,and thereby improving decis

27、ion making and planning.The first is to invest in data collection infrastructure,gathering detailedinformation on weather and climate patterns,emissions,and vulnerability.2022 Boston Consulting Group7The second is to build capacity for impact analytics at national and regional levels,taking advantag

28、e of the capabilities of government departments and localuniversities.Currently,the workforce is limited;apprenticeships and in-depthtraining programs could address this issue and the need for digital upskilling at thesame time.Given the need for scale,supranational analytic hubs could beestablished

29、,with multiple nations contributing resources and talent to each.The third is planning.There should be established support for governments todevelop NAPs under UNFCCC guidelines.They may also need plans to deliveruniversal energy access with low-carbon production technologies,along with greeneconomi

30、c strategies that can unlock financing and help create jobs.One goalshould be to establish Africa as a growth region for green technology.Finally,the use of data,analytics,and planning to enable and drive informed,long-term,and proactive decision-making on the part of public,private,and civilsociety

31、 leaders.Letting the science and data drive decisions and planning willultimately safeguard African nations and peoples from the harsh impacts ofclimate change.2022 Boston Consulting Group8It will take a continent-wide effort to accomplish everything described above.Mostcritical will be the collecti

32、on,sharing,and management of climate data oncommon data platforms,the pooling of data and climate science talent andexpertise,and transparency of information among national and localgovernments.Home-grown talent together with global technical assistance tonational governments to help them continuall

33、y refine and implement NAPs andother plans along with scaling of cooperative efforts across the continent willunderwrite success.With measures like these in place,governments,the private sector,developmentfinance institutions,and civil society will be able to move rapidly to mitigate theeffects of c

34、limate change and develop a future-ready African talent base.If you would like to learn more about emerging trends and policy developments indigital skills and climate analytics in Africa,read the full report,TransformationalDevelopment in Africa.The report was commissioned by the USAID Mission to t

35、heAfrican Union and prepared with support from Boston Consulting Group.2022 Boston Consulting Group9AuthorsPatrick DupouxManaging Director and Senior Partner;Head of AfricaParisQahir DhananiPartner&Associate DirectorWashington,DCTolu OyekanManaging Director&PartnerLagosSana RafiqPrincipal,BCG Hender

36、son Institute AmbassadorWashington,DCKarol YearwoodProject LeaderABOUT BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP1618 Tech Hubs in Africa,Briter Bridges,https:/ Telemedicine Market,Market Data Forecast,January 2022,https:/ University Rankings 2023:African Sector Improving Rapidly,Times HigherEducation,October 12,2022,

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