Categories: Technology

GSMA introduces the Digital Africa Index to advance digital transformation

The GSMA has unveiled the Digital Africa Index (DAI), a comprehensive analytical tool that tracks digital adoption and utilization across Africa. Launched alongside the latest report on Kenya’s digital economy, the index serves as a guide for policymakers to identify focus areas and advance digital transformation, highlighting Kenya as a model for regulatory innovation and mobile broadband growth.

Kenya’s strong performance on the DAI reflects its progress in digital financial services and mobile technology, achievements fueled by forward-thinking policies and frameworks.

This, in turn, has placed the country among the continent’s top scorers, positioning it as a leader in digital financial services and technological innovation.

Complementing the DAI is the Digital Policy and Regulatory Index (DPRI), which benchmarks policy environments across Africa, offering insights into overcoming obstacles to digital growth.

In addition to the DAI, GSMA’s new report, Driving Digital Transformation of the Economy in Kenya, projects that Kenya’s digital economy will contribute approximately $5.13 billion (KES 662 billion) to GDP by 2028, spurred by reforms in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, transport, and trade.

This growth is anticipated to create around 300,000 jobs and increase tax revenues by $1.16 billion (KES 150 billion).

Digital transformation has become a cornerstone of Kenya’s economic agenda, with the Kenya Vision 2030 and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) identifying digitalization as essential for sustainable growth.

The GSMA report emphasizes the importance of continued digital adoption, with digital expansion projected to significantly impact key sectors that together account for 58% of Kenya’s GDP.

In 2023, Kenya’s mobile ecosystem contributed KES 1.2 trillion to GDP and generated KES 212 billion in government revenues, demonstrating the sector’s economic importance.

However, GSMA’s analysis points to the need for policies that will further stimulate demand, lower supply costs, and foster investment in telecom infrastructure, digital services, and mobile money platforms, ensuring sustainable digital growth across Africa.

Joan Mwaniki

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