By David Olujinmi
Copyright businessday
MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita has urged African governments to act decisively to close the continent’s digital divide, warning that failure to do so could relegate Africa to becoming “a digital underclass.”
Speaking at the Forward Africa Leaders Symposium (FALS) in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Mupita said Africa must seize the moment to shape its digital future or risk being locked out of the benefits of global technological progress.
“Governments of Africa have to seize the moment. We are at a particular echelon of technological evolution, and if we are not involved, we will be left behind,” Mupita told participants at the Nasdaq MarketSite event.
He highlighted Africa’s low internet penetration, just 25 percent of the population is online compared with 80 percent in the US and 77 percent in Europe, as evidence of the urgency. Tackling barriers such as electricity shortages, costly devices, and limited connectivity, he said, will be key to unlocking growth.
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The symposium, held under the theme Advancing Africa’s Digital Transformation: Inspiring Action, Accelerating Growth, Accelerating Impact, brought together policymakers, entrepreneurs, and investors to discuss data governance, digital identity, and public-private partnerships.
Mupita pointed to MTN’s own history of innovation, recalling how the company introduced prepaid mobile services in the 1990s, which allowed millions of Africans to connect on flexible, low-cost plans. “We connected a million people in South Africa at the start. Today, we have 300 million people across the continent,” he said.
The African Union’s recent policy frameworks formed a backdrop to the discussions. In the past three years, the AU has adopted the Data Policy Framework, the Malabo Convention on cybersecurity, a digital ID interoperability framework, and a continental AI strategy.
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AU Commission deputy chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi told the forum that these milestones provide the “predictability and standardization” needed for Africa’s economies to scale seamlessly across borders. But she stressed that private sector engagement will be critical to ensure the frameworks respond to real market needs.
Mupita echoed the call for collaboration: “Through a partnership approach—business, civil society, and governments working together—we can ensure Africans are at the table shaping the future of Africa towards 2063 and beyond.”
FALS founder Hannah Awuku said the initiative seeks to mobilise capital and foster cross-border collaborations to strengthen Africa’s digital ecosystem. She noted that Africa’s digital economy is projected to contribute more than 5% to GDP by the end of 2025, driven by innovations in mobile money, agritech, and healthtech.
The event, now in its second edition, was organized in partnership with the African Peer Review Mechanism and supported by groups including the KGL Foundation, GSMA, and Africa Business Council
