The political and socio-economic impact of digitalization in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa

Since the turn of the millennium, many countries in Africa have experienced an unprecedented turnaround in terms of various political, socioeconomic, and cultural outcomes and it appears that at the heart of the unparalleled progress is an increasing level of digitalization catalyzed by the information technology boom. Digitalization has transformed how individuals, societies, firms and governments operate through the application of ICT tools such as computers, mobile phones and the internet leading to the emergence of new forms of civic engagement, employment, products, processes and market channels that not only impact how people behave and communicate but also overall livelihoods. The current COVID-19 pandemic and its associated mobility restrictions have, for instance, made the impact of digital technology even more pronounced as individuals, groups, governments and corporations seek to maximise the use of digital technologies to reduce the varied costs associated with social distancing and various disruptions. While the dynamics and impact of digitalization receive quite extensive research attention in the advanced and OECD countries, the same cannot be said for most developing countries. The political and socio-economic impacts of digitalization are not well understood, especially in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. How does digitalization affect employment, social welfare and participatory engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa? The handful of studies that exist on Africa apply either a very limited conceptualization of digitalization, use fewer comparative cases, consider shorter time horizons particularly due to challenges of data availability or focus on economic outcomes such as GDP. This study draws from a comprehensive time-series data from the International telecommunication Union covering the period 1975 to 2018 and applies a mixed-methods approach allowing for not only a qualitative and quantitative assessment of how different dimensions of digitalization affect employment, social welfare and participatory engagement but also offer a better understanding of the cross-country digital development trajectory in SSA over time from historical to contemporary periods, allowing for effective policy direction.