TRANSFORMATION OF AFRICA'S DIGITAL ECONOMY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE DRIVERS

The analysis of the trends in the growth of the digital economy in Africa particularly sub-Saharan Africa and the drivers behind that trend are presented in this paper. The author concludes that the digital divide between Africa and other continents is rapidly closing owing to deployment of large data pipes to connect the continent to other regions and countries within the continent, reduction in the cost of internet delivery, increased internet security, decline in the cost of cell phones, increase in population particular the emergence of the youth population which is quick to adopt new technologies, and the migration of the population to cities. Other contributing factors include adoption of production technologies such as such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, the need for telemedicine to deliver healthcare to rural areas and migration of most business transactions to online platforms, which all produce large volumes of data for instant use.