Digital innovation could widen Africa’s inequalities if people are left out – Sam Jonah

Business leader Sir Sam Jonah has warned that digital innovation could widen inequality in Africa if its benefits are concentrated among people who already have access to technology, education and economic opportunities. He said governments, universities and businesses must ensure that digital policies and platforms do not exclude people who lack reliable internet access, electricity or the resources to participate in the digital economy. “Every digital policy, every new platform, must ask a simple question: who is left out?” he said. Sir Sam was speaking at Methodist University Ghana’s international conference in Accra on Thursday, October 15, where he delivered the keynote address for the university’s 25th anniversary celebrations. He argued that a child in Dansoman with a laptop and reliable internet access has substantially different opportunities from a child in a village without electricity.