IN AFRICA, THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF 4IR IS SIGNIFICANT.
Encouraging economic growth and structural change
The African ICT sector has grown in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue. Recently, mobile technologies and services have generated 1.7 million direct jobs (both formal and informal), $144 billion in economic value (8.5 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa's GDP), and $15.6 billion in tax revenue for the government. Digitization has also addressed issues of information asymmetry in the financial system and labor market, boosting efficiency, clarity, and security in an environment where information flow is vital for economic growth and job creation.
Failure to recognize and capitalize on 4IR potential, on the other hand, will pose significant dangers to African stakeholders: Without efforts to move beyond the continent's present patterns of innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital growth, African businesses risk slipping farther behind, worsening the global "digital divide" and decreasing their worldwide competitiveness. Going beyond traditional models necessitates governance discipline to allow for an endogenous innovation environment. At the same time, institutions must protect the market through consumer protection laws and competition-inducing rules.