In May 2023 I was a panellist at the National Security Symposium in Kigali, Rwanda, organised by the Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College. Our panel addressed “The Impact of Emerging Digital Technologies on Economy, Diplomacy and Security in Africa”.
On the panel at the National Security Symposium, Kigali.
Africa is not a latecomer to this conversation
It is common to hear digital technology in Africa described in terms of catching up. The reality on the continent is different: mobile-first financial systems used at a scale Europe has never matched, rapid growth in connectivity and data centres, and governments building digital public services without the burden of decades-old legacy systems.
That creates opportunity and exposure at the same time. Leapfrogging means fewer old systems to defend, but it also means critical services becoming digital faster than the institutions, skills and laws that are meant to protect them.
The question is not whether Africa will be shaped by emerging technology. It is who writes the rules while that happens.
Three themes from the panel
- Economy: digital payments and platforms drive growth, and equally concentrate risk in a few systems whose failure would be felt nationally.
- Diplomacy: African states are increasingly active in international debates on cyber norms, data governance and AI, where standards set elsewhere have consequences at home.
- Security: protecting critical infrastructure, countering the misuse of drones and AI-enabled tools, and building the regional cooperation that cross-border incidents demand.
My thanks to the Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College for the invitation, and to fellow panellists and delegates for a discussion that was refreshingly free of easy answers.
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