Tech stakeholders say Africa must co-create, retool and own its digital destiny
…as 10th edition of Mobex Africa Tech & Innovation Awards opens in Accra
By Patrick Paintsil
Stakeholders in Africa’s technology and innovation ecosystem have unanimously advocated the need for the continent to shift away from being consumers of foreign innovations to co-create and design sovereign home-grown tech solutions that repositions its digital future.
Panelists and speakers at this year’s Mobex Africa Tech and Innovation Awards on the theme “Resetting Africa’s digital identity and sovereignty” further proposed that Africa’s digital transformation must be built, designed and led by Africans.
“For too long, Africa has been cast as a consumer of technologies designed elsewhere—a testing ground, not a power in its own right; that era is over. Africa will no longer only adopt—we will create. We will no longer depend—we will own. We will no longer accept exclusion—we will include,” said George Spencer Quaye, Chief Executive Officer of Mobex Africa.
According to him, the continent has made significant progress in digital identity with ready infrastructure and systems but the time has come to recalibrate and reclaim its approach and momentum.
He added: “Resetting Africa’s digital identity means reclaiming our narrative, owning our infrastructure, and designing our digital future on our own terms.It means ensuring that when the world speaks of innovation, African voices don’t just join the conversation—they lead it.”
As Mobex Africa enters its second decade, Mr. Quaye pledged that his outfit will continue to champion African-led innovation, advocate for infrastructure sovereignty, and fight for inclusion.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, stated in his keynote address that digital sovereignty extends territorial integrity and political independence to include digital autonomy, technological capacity, and the ‘ability to shape our own digital futures’.
“When African countries lack control over the digital infrastructure processing our citizens’ data, our payment systems depend entirely on foreign platforms, and our digital policies are dictated by regulations designed for other contexts—our sovereignty is comprised,” the minister said.
He therefore called intensified regional coordination on digital policy and cooperation through cross-border digital partnerships.
“Our integration efforts must have digital infrastructure at their core. Ghana’s doors are open. Africa’s future is bright. And together—through cooperation, coordination, and commitment—we will reset Africa’s digital identity as a continent that leads, innovates, and prospers,” Mr. Ablakwa noted.
Throwing his weight behind the call for home-made tech innovations, the deputy chief executive officer of Margins ID Group, Mr. Kwesi Baiden, called for broader adoption of existing digital identity solutions to underpin the country’s digitally-enabled governance for sustainable development.
“The system is ready and policy commitment must match the infrastructure. The next chapter is enforcement for Ghana to protect its citizens in a world of digital risk and lead the continent in identity enabled governance,” he indicated.
This year’s Mobex Africa Tech Innovation Conference and Awards, organized by Mobex Africa, in partnership with Margins ID Group, convened entrepreneurs in the tech and innovation ecosystem, investors and policymakers to discuss pertinent issues including digital payments, identity systems and financial inclusion.
The four-day event is being held on the theme “Resetting Africa’s digital identity and sovereignty” will be climaxed with an innovation awards to celebrate twenty-two (22) pioneers shaping the continent’s digital destiny.
