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 [Innovation & Technology](/CSR-News/innovation-technology-0)

 # Research: How Technology Could Promote Growth in 6 African Countries

 

##### by Bhaskar ChakravortiRavi and Shankar Chaturvedi

 

 

 Dec 10, 2019 3:10 PM ET

  ![](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/MC_for_inclusive_growth_2_191209.jpg "Photo credits: HBR STAFF/GETTY IMAGES") Photo credits: HBR STAFF/GETTY IMAGES 

 

[Originally published on Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2019/12/research-how-technology-could-promote-growth-in-6-african-countries)

Africa is closely watched as the [next big growth market](https://store.hbr.org/product/africa-s-business-revolution-how-to-succeed-in-the-world-s-next-big-growth-market/10191?sku=10191E-KND-ENG&referral=02560) – a description that [has persisted](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/middle-east-and-africa/africas-overlooked-business-revolution) for a [while.](https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-globe-cracking-the-next-growth-market-africa) There are many reasons for optimism: the African continent is home to some of the [youngest populations](https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/africa-population/) in the world, it promises to be a major [consumption market](https://www.brookings.edu/research/africas-consumer-market-potential/) over the next three decades, and it is increasingly [mobile phone-enabled](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/10/09/majorities-in-sub-saharan-africa-own-mobile-phones-but-smartphone-adoption-is-modest/). An emerging digital ecosystem is particularly crucial as multiplier of that growth, because access to smart phones and other devices enhances consumer information, networking, job-creating resources, and even financial inclusion.

Despite these reasons for optimism, the promise remains unfulfilled. Growth in Africa has stalled; both the IMF and the World Bank have cut their 2019 economic growth projections for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to [3.5%](https://af.reuters.com/article/zambiaNews/idAFL8N21S265) and [2.8%,](https://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL8N21Q3YH) respectively, with growth in 2018 at [2.3%.](https://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL8N21Q3YH) Poverty has increased — [437 million](https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/number-extremely-poor-people-continues-rise-sub-saharan-africa) of the world’s extreme poor are in SSA — and [10 of the 19 most unequal countries](https://www.africa.undp.org/content/rba/en/home/library/reports/income-inequality-trends-in-sub-saharan-africa--divergence--dete.html) in the world are in SSA. The World Bank projects that if poverty reduction measures and growth remain sluggish, Africa could be home to [90% of the world’s poor](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-09/africa-may-have-90-of-the-world-s-poor-by-2030-world-bank-says?srnd=markets-vp) by 2030.

[**Continue reading**](https://hbr.org/2019/12/research-how-technology-could-promote-growth-in-6-african-countries)



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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