Digital development is a strategic priority for African countries, especially since they are committing significant investments to develop their infrastructure in this increasingly important field. Digital technology in the continent is a key element in the geopolitical competition between global powers, including China and the United States. This puts African actors in a position where they must choose international partnerships for their digital infrastructure based on their own interests. Despite technological progress, a large portion of the African population remains excluded from the digital economy due to a lack of infrastructure and limited access to suitable and affordable digital applications and services.
In this context, a study published by the French Institute of International Relations in December 2023 highlights the perceptions of African public and private actors regarding geopolitical competition in the digital sector in Africa, with a focus on China’s leading role. It also analyzes the adaptation strategies that African governments employ in selecting digital partners and negotiating partnerships to achieve their goals in a competitive environment. Finally, the study identifies the challenges facing the continent’s digitalization process, including the burden of international technical standards, the low level of civil society involvement, and limited regional coordination. The study is based on interviews with heads of digital development agencies and private and civil actors from Benin, Togo, Senegal, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Ghana, and Algeria.
Chinese-Western Competition:
Many African countries lack the infrastructure needed to develop information and communication technology (ICT) on a national level. As a result, these countries rely on competing foreign digital technologies and services provided through commercial contracts or government partnerships. China’s presence at the heart of this competition has generated tensions, with American and European donors seeking to undermine China’s influence in the continent’s digital infrastructure.
In this framework, China has played a crucial role in developing Africa’s digital economy and has gradually established itself as one of the continent’s key strategic partners. Chinese tech companies have become increasingly important players in the Digital Silk Road (DSR), the digital component announced in 2015 as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Through this initiative, China plays a significant role in Africa’s digital transformation strategy.
Chinese tech companies have offered African markets a cheaper alternative to their Western counterparts. Deals involving attractive financing packages from telecom equipment manufacturers like Huawei, backed by Chinese grants and soft loans, have enabled widespread deployment of core network infrastructure. Mobile phone manufacturers like Transsion Holdings, the owner of popular brands like Tecno and Infinix, have allowed low-income individuals to purchase smartphones comparable to the best options from traditional competitors such as Apple and Samsung. Countries like Kenya and Senegal view China as a preferred partner in telecommunications infrastructure.
While China holds a central position in many African countries, not all African actors interviewed for the study agreed on China’s capacity to deploy digital infrastructure. For example, in Guinea, despite a significant framework agreement with China, the digital sector has seen little development as a result of the partnership, raising doubts about China’s expertise in this area.
Nevertheless, Chinese companies remain a frequent choice for African governments and businesses, as they are seen as more flexible negotiators than their European and American counterparts. This local presence has allowed Chinese firms to adapt more quickly to the cultural, political, economic, and institutional contexts of different regions, including Africa.
However, the rise in international tensions, especially between China and the United States in the technology sector, has had significant implications for contract design and negotiations between development partners, the private sector, and government bodies. These competitions have two main impacts. First, some partners, including the U.S., have issued warnings to African nations against purchasing and using Chinese-origin technology. Second, binding directives have been issued to African countries, requiring them to avoid using equipment from certain Chinese companies, like Huawei, if they wish to secure funding from organizations such as USAID. For instance, in Guinea, an internet service provider (ISP) was informed by a Western lessor that its services would not be approved if it used equipment from Chinese companies. Many Australian, British, and American investors have similarly avoided Chinese equipment in their projects for several years.
Amid this competition, Western and Chinese partners strive to outdo each other in offering favorable deals to African governments and operators for large-scale digital projects. The recent deployment of 5G networks is a prime example, resulting in a global confrontation between leading Chinese tech firms such as Huawei and ZTE, and European companies like Ericsson and Nokia.
In Africa, Chinese actors have outperformed their European and American counterparts in terms of market share in telecommunications infrastructure and mobile phone manufacturing, holding 73% of the African internet market. Most African government actors, such as those in Benin, seem to prefer maintaining a pragmatic stance, collaborating with the partner offering the best technology and cost-effective solutions to meet their goals, rather than aligning with one geopolitical competitor over the other.
Adaptation and Digital Sovereignty:
Vital digital projects with security implications (such as middleware devices or video surveillance projects powered by artificial intelligence) are particularly scrutinized by the media due to geopolitical rivalries on the international stage. To mitigate the risks posed by these rivalries, many African countries opt to enhance their digital sovereignty on the one hand, while strengthening alliances with private sector partners on the other.
Digital sovereignty can be defined as a strategic approach aimed at reaffirming government authority over cyberspace, which includes the development of digital technology and the recognition of each country’s right to develop and use the necessary policy tools to control cyber activities within their legal territories. A country’s approach to digital sovereignty also depends on its economic and political interests, technological capabilities, national priorities, and digital foreign policy.
In Africa, one common misconception is equating digital sovereignty with data localization. Some governments believe that if infrastructure and data centers are located within Africa and owned by African entities, they would have greater control over the data and infrastructure, as well as data processing that occurs on their soil, thus exercising digital sovereignty. While localization is viewed as a means to ensure data sovereignty, achieving it remains challenging, primarily due to the financial resources and technical capacities required to deploy data centers necessary to meet this demand.
However, to foster successful partnerships between the private sector and governments in digital development, several challenges need to be addressed. According to African private sector actors interviewed in the study, African governments often protect national assets and are skeptical of the intentions of some foreign private actors, fearing exploitation for profit and excessive earnings abroad. Therefore, governments should create a favorable environment for private companies’ profitability, which involves improving transparency in selecting private sector partners and setting clear rules for licensing, intellectual property, interoperability, and regulation.
Challenges of Digitalization:
Despite the implementation of African digital adaptation strategies, many challenges remain in executing digital partnerships. Civil society is still minimally involved in government negotiations. Recently, multilateral cooperation across the continent has begun to have an impact, but it must be strengthened for African countries to benefit more from coordination mechanisms.
Civil society organizations in the continent, especially those working to promote digital rights, provide a crucial resource for governments, granting them access to networks of experts who conduct studies and draw conclusions that ultimately improve the quality of agreements made with international counterparts and the private sector. At the local level, civil society actors, through their support, can address the shortcomings of governmental institutions, which are sometimes ill-equipped to manage challenges related to digital law. African civil society is often more agile and can produce results that serve as a foundation for government actions.
Civil society also advocates for greater transparency in processes and the improvement of structures and strategies to implement various normative frameworks across the continent. In cases where legal frameworks do not function effectively, civil society organizations have the authority to hold governments accountable. This was evident in Kenya, where civil society played a crucial role in compelling the government to properly implement the Data Protection Act. In a continent where the implementation of rights may not be as advanced as in other parts of the world, and holding individuals accountable can be costly, civil society plays a vital role in supporting these efforts.
Multilateralism has long played a significant role in Africa’s digital development, especially in cross-border infrastructure projects and cross-national agreements aimed at harmonizing regulations in certain sectors of the digital economy, such as cybersecurity, data protection, payments, and trade across the continent. In 2014, the African Union adopted the Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention), which highlights the need for common regulatory frameworks, the development of African multi-stakeholder alliances, and the strengthening of public-private partnerships. Moreover, there are sub-regional alliances, such as the Mano River Union (which includes Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone), aimed at promoting cooperation between these countries in several areas, including digital.
With a more specific focus on digital issues, the Smart Africa Alliance includes 36 African member states, international organizations, and global private sector entities that seek to strengthen and advance Africa’s digital agenda. It coordinates efforts across the continent to make the digital economy a prominent factor in social and economic development. Finally, African governments will be able to rely on multilateral tools like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) to further harmonize laws and regulations.
In conclusion, while alliances and regional organizations like Smart Africa, AFCFTA, ECOWAS, and the West African Economic and Monetary Union call for greater digital integration and the creation of a single digital market in Africa, inconsistent policies and laws within African countries remain a significant barrier to achieving this goal. This situation is exacerbated by varying levels of digital development across the continent. Despite challenging local contexts and limited budgets, African governments are striving to achieve ambitious national goals related to digital transformation.
Source: Folashadé Soulé, «Rivalités géopolitiques et partenariats numériques en Afrique. Stratégies d’adaptation et défis», Ifri, Décembre 2023.
