No country can compete in the 21st century on analog foundations, said Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), calling on African economies to accelerate their digital transformation.
The shift, he stressed, will require countries to “power, connect, and digitize” their economies, according to a statement issued by ECA on Wednesday.
Gatete was speaking at the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and economic Development (CoM2026) in Morocco where policymakers and experts gathered to examine how innovation, data and new technologies can drive growth and create jobs.
Discussions focused on what it will take to build more competitive, higher-productivity economies, strengthen skills for a changing labour market, improve access to finance for businesses, and scale innovation, including frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence that are reshaping productivity and labour markets.
With unemployment rising across Africa, the continent’s labour market is under growing pressure. The pace and scale of job creation are not keeping up with its fast-growing population, leaving policymakers, economists and innovators searching for solutions that can deliver at scale.
It is a challenge that has brought renewed focus on the role of innovation and technology in driving growth and job creation.
In an interview with ECA’s Sustainable Africa Series, Ojoma Ochai, Managing Director of Co-Creation Hub, said the growing focus on innovation and emerging technologies to create jobs and expand economic opportunity reflects what practitioners in the tech ecosystem have long been working toward.
“There’s a lot of research going on, but the research hardly translates into industry or new products,” Ochai said, noting that there is a persistent gap between ideas and implementation.
Across the continent, technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital platforms and mobile payments are beginning to reshape sectors from agriculture to finance, expanding access and improving productivity.
MG/as/APA