Namely, access to healthcare, education, markets, government services, and economic opportunity.
While digital innovation is essential for economic growth, it cannot succeed in isolation.
If inclusion is not intentionally designed into digital systems, technology risks reinforcing existing inequalities rather than reducing them.
This challenge is particularly acute in Africa, where a significant share of the population still lives outside major urban centres and digital access remains uneven.
As of 2024, only about 38% of Africans were using the internet, with usage dropping to as low as 23% in rural areas, reflecting deep disparities in affordability, infrastructure, and reliability.
Digital systems built for urban, always-connected users often exclude those navigating expensive data costs, intermittent electricity, and limited digital literacy.
The critical question, therefore, is not whether Africa is going digital, but who Africa’s digital future is being designed for.
Africa’s digital journey is distinct. It is young, largely rural, multilingual, and deeply diverse.
Millions of people interact with technology primarily through basic mobile phones, shared devices, or community access points rather than personal smartphones or high-speed broadband.
Effective digital transformation must start from these realities, not from assumptions shaped by high-connectivity environments.
Inclusive digital systems need to be human-centred, context-aware, and often offline-first.
This means designing solutions that function with low bandwidth, tolerate intermittent connectivity, and align with how people live, work, and transact.
Just as importantly, adoption depends on trust and usability.
Even the most advanced technologies will fail if people do not understand them, trust them, or see clear value in their daily lives.
Persistent inequalities also shape access.
Across low-and middle-income countries, women remain significantly less likely to use mobile internet than men.
The GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report shows that women are approximately 14% less likely than men to use mobile internet, with affordability, digital skills, and socio-economic barriers particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa.
Digital identity systems form a critical foundation for inclusive transformation.
Without formal identification, millions of Africans remain excluded fr,om amongst others, healthcare, education, financial services, and social protection programmes.
Estonia offers a useful global reference point.
The country’s national digital identity system enables citizens to access nearly all public and private services online, from healthcare and taxation to business registration and digital signatures through a single, secure digital identity.
Today, more than 99% of Estonians use digital ID services, demonstrating how interoperable systems, simplicity, and trust-based design can transform governance and service delivery.
In the South African context, the lesson is not replication, but principle.
Treating digital identity as public infrastructure, integrated with e-government platforms and mobile wallets, could significantly improve service delivery.
Social grants and other state payments could be deposited directly into secure digital wallets linked to verified identities, reducing fraud, duplication, and administrative leakage.
Citizens could access Home Affairs, SASSA, healthcare, and municipal services digitally, minimising long queues, repeated visits, and the high cost of travel.
For rural South Africa, inclusive design is essential.
USSD-based services are a simple technology that allows users to interact with digital services via basic mobile phones by dialling short codes (e.g., *123#) can support access even without internet connectivity.
Community digital hubs and targeted digital skills training can also serve citizens without smartphones or reliable connectivity.
Designed this way, digital identity systems have the potential to meaningfully improve access for rural and marginalised communities rather than deepen existing divides.
Healthcare access remains one of the most pressing challenges in deep rural and underserved areas.
Digital health platform,s including telemedicine, electronic health records, and AI-assisted diagnostics, are improving efficiency and reach, but they are not sufficient on their own.
Physical access to medicine and medical supplies is often the missing link.
In countries such as Rwanda and Ghana, drones are already being used to deliver blood, vaccines, and essential medicines to remote clinics.
In Rwanda, drone-enabled delivery has reduced blood product delivery times by up to 61% and cut blood unit expirations by approximately 67%, significantly improving emergency response capacity.
In Ghana, drone networks now serve over 2,300 health facilities, reducing vaccine stock-outs and strengthening supply chain reliability.
When combined with digital health records and AI-supported decision tools, drone-enabled logistics ensure healthcare workers have timely access to critical supplies.
This demonstrates that inclusive digital health requires digital intelligence and physical delivery working together, rather than platforms operating in isolation.
Agriculture and education underpin livelihoods and long-term development across Africa.
AI-enabled tools can support smallholder farmers with weather forecasting, pest alerts, soil insights, and market pricing, enabling better decision-making and income protection.
In education, AI can help personalise learning, identify students at risk of falling behind, and support teachers managing large or under-resourced classrooms.
However, impact depends not on technological sophistication, but on delivery.
High-tech platforms designed for smartphones and constant connectivity often exclude those who need them most.
In contrast, low-tech, mobile-first solutions using WhatsApp, USSD, voice services, or community digital hubs frequently achieve greater scale and impact.
The goal is not innovation for its own sake, but practical usefulness embedded in everyday realities.
Across every sector, connectivity remains the most critical enabler of digital transformation.
Without affordable data, reliable networks, and stable electricity, even the most thoughtfully designed systems will fail.
Closing the digital divide requires intentional investment in low-bandwidth design, offline functionality, and locally relevant digital literacy programmes.
Connectivity must be treated as essential infrastructure on par with roads, water, and electricity.
Africa’s digital future will not be defined by technology alone, but by how inclusive its systems truly are.
Digital identity, AI-enabled services, drone logistics, and e-government platforms all have the potential to transform live,s but only when they are designed around the realities of marginalised communities.
Inclusion is not a social add-on; it is a growth strategy.
Systems built for access, trust, and usability reach more people, deliver better outcomes, and create more resilient digital economies.
The defining question remains: Are we designing Africa’s digital future for everyone, including the marginalised or only for the connected few?
