Unlocking the Digital Economy in Africa: Benchmarking the Digital Transformation Journey AUGUST 2020 Unlocking the Digital Economy in Africa: Benchmarking the Digital Transformation Journey | 1 Authors Grace Nyakanini from Smart Africa Maurice Sayinzoga and Nicholas Gates from the Digital Impact Alliance Erik Almqvist and Kutay Erkan from Sense Strategy Contributors Scott Neilitz and Cristina Alves from the Digital Impact Alliance Dr. Ralph Oyini Mbouna from Smart Africa With support from: Didier Nkurikyimfura from Smart Africa Mary Jo Kochendorfer, Laura Walker McDonald, and Jake Watson from the Digital Impact Alliance Table of Contents Table of Figures. 4 Acknowledgments. 5 Smart Africa . 5 DIAL . 5 Sense Strategy . 5 Foreword. 6 Acronyms and Abbreviations . 7 Executive Summary. 8 I. Introduction . 11 II. Methodology for Benchmarking Assessment . 14 2.1. Framework for Analysis. 14 2.2. Country Selection . 16 2.3. Benchmarking Assessment Process . 17 2.4. Primary Data Collection and Analysis. 18 III. State of the Digital Economy: Benchmarking Progress Against the Digital Economy Pillars. 20 3.1. Digital Government . 20 3.2. Digital Business . 23 3.3. Infrastructure. 25 3.4. Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship . 27 3.5. Digital Skills and Values . 29 IV. The Role of Government in Unlocking the Digital Economy . 33 4.1. Digital Economy Planning: Strategy, Policy, and Implementation . 33 4.2. Strategic Coordination and Silos Across Government . 34 4.3. Resource Mobilisation: Funding, Affordability, and Procurement . 36 4.4. Digital Change Management: User-Centered Government Services for Businesses and Citizens . 38 4.5. ICT Infrastructure: Private Sector Collaboration and Last-Mile Connectivity . 41 4.6. Emergency Planning and Sectoral Plans for Digital Government . 43 4.7. Digital Skills and Capacity for Governments and Citizens. 45 4.8. Regional Collaboration and Global Alignment: Policy, Platforms, and Peer Learning . 47 4.9. Benchmarking the Digital Transformation Journey: Key Themes and Takeaways. 50 V. Call-to-Action: Unlocking the Digital Economy Through Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Transformation. 54 VI. Conclusion . 57 References . 58 Appendices. 64 A. Country Profiles: Benchmarking Progress Towards Digital Economy . 64 B. Detailed Methodology of Benchmarking Indices. 69 C. Selected Best Practices for a Digital Economy . 72 D. Smart Africa Initiatives for a Digital Economy . 74 E. Strategic Development: Designing Digital Economy Plans . 75 Unlocking the Digital Economy in Africa: Benchmarking the Digital Transformation Journey | 3 Table of Figures Figure 1: Objectives of the Benchmarking Assessment. 12 Figure 2: The Digital Economy Blueprint for Africa. 14 Figure 3: Pillars of the Kenya Digital Economy Blueprint . 15 Figure 4: Participating Smart Africa Member Countries . 16 Figure 5: Indices Used for Benchmarking Assessment Using Secondary Data . 17 Figure 6: Participation of Countries in Primary Data Collection Activities. 18 Figure 7: Case Study: E-Services Portal in Benin . 20 Figure 8: Comparison of the Digital Government Pillar Among Participating Countries. 21 Figure 9: Evolution of Digital Government Services From 2010 to 2018. 22 Figure 10: Comparison of the Digital Business Pillar Among Participating Countries . 23 Figure 11: Case Study: Mobile Money Interoperability in Ghana . 24 Figure 12: Case Study: Broadband Fibre-Optic Network in Gabon . 26 Figure 13: Case Study: Digital Entrepreneurship in Senegal . 27 Figure 14: Comparison of the Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship Pillar Among Participating Countries . 28 Figure 15: Comparison of the Digital Skills and Values Pillar Among Participating Countries . 30 Figure 16: Case Study: DigiSchool in Kenya . 31 Figure 17: Call-to-Action: Unlocking the Digital Economy Through Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Transformation. 54 Figure 18: Country Profile of Angola in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 64 Figure 19: Country Profile of Benin in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 64 Figure 20: Country Profile of Burkina Faso in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 65 Figure 21: Country Profile of Côte d’Ivoire in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 65 Figure 22: Country Profile of Gabon in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 66 Figure 23: Country Profile of Ghana in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 66 Figure 24: Country Profile of Kenya in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint. 67 Figure 25: Country Profile of Niger in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 67 Figure 26: Country Profile of Senegal in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 68 Figure 27: Country Profile of Sierra Leone in Terms of the Five Pillars of the Digital Economy Blueprint . 68 Unlocking the Digital Economy in Africa: Benchmarking the Digital Transformation Journey | 4 Smart Africa is a bold and Acknowledgments innovative commitment This report is the result of a collaboration to accelerate sustainable among three organisations. Smart Africa socio-economic development on the continent and the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL)—the and usher Africa into the knowledge economy conveners and facilitators for this study— through affordable access to broadband have provided guidance and secondary data and use of information and communication through landscaping efforts, contacts, and technologies (ICTs). The Smart Africa Alliance funding. Sense Strategy, which acted as a brings together heads of state who seek to consultant on the study, collected the primary accelerate the digitalisation of the continent data and summarised it into preliminary report and create a common market. Launched in form, which has been iterated upon by the 2013 by seven African heads of state who Smart Africa and DIAL teams. jointly adopted the Smart Africa Manifesto at the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali, From Smart Africa, we would like to thank the Alliance now has 30 member countries, Grace Nyakanini, Dr. Ralph Oyini Mbouna, representing more than 750 million people. For and Didier Nkurikiyimfura for their support, more information, see: https://smartafrica.org/. guidance, and contributions to this project. From DIAL, thanks are due to Maurice Sayinzoga and Nicholas Gates for their The Digital Impact Alliance contributions to the partnership and final is an independent global report, as well as Scott Neilitz, Cristina alliance funded by leading development Alves, Mary Jo Kochendorfer, Laura Walker agencies and private foundations. DIAL McDonald, Angela Kastner, and Jake Watson was established in 2015 as a “think, do, for their support and guidance throughout replicate” tank, combining practical research the project. We would also like to thank Erik with evidence-based advocacy to advance Almqvist and Kutay Erkan of Sense Strategy digital inclusion to achieve the Sustainable for their efforts in collecting and preparing the Development Goals (SDGs). DIAL identifies data for this study. barriers to the routine use of digital solutions and data by development actors (countries, Finally, and most importantly, we would NGOs, multilateral institutions); tests ways like to thank the representatives of Angola, to remove them; and packages solutions for Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, these actors to use in service delivery efforts. Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra For more information, see: Leone, without whom this report would not https://www.digitalimpactalliance.org/. have been possible. Sense Strategy is a global management consulting firm specialising in the digital economy, digital transformation, and investment advisory. The company actively advises governments, NGOs, leading ICT License information stakeholders, and investors. The Sense This work is licensed under the Creative Strategy team has supported more than Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- 160 projects on five continents, including ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 31 African countries, and pioneered the To view a copy of this license,.