Ahead of COM 2026 ministerial, experts spotlight innovation as driver of Africa’s structural transformation

Tangier, Morocco, 28 March 2026 - Africa must move faster to harness data and frontier technologies if it is to turn economic growth into structural transformation, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa for Programme Support, Mama Keita, said at the opening of the Committee of Experts segment of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

Speaking on behalf of the ECA Executive Secretary Claver Gatete, Keita said the conference theme, "Growth through innovation: harnessing data and frontier technologies for the economic transformation of Africa", comes at a critical moment for the continent. She said the discussions offer a timely opportunity to examine how data, innovation and frontier technologies can accelerate Africa's transformation and support more sustainable growth.

Keita noted that Africa's GDP growth averaged 3.5 per cent between 2000 and 2023, but said the quality of that growth has remained weak because the continent has made only limited progress in productivity-enhancing transformation. She stressed that growth has been driven largely by capital and labour accumulation, while total factor productivity has not contributed significantly enough.

She said frontier technologies can help reverse that pattern by boosting productivity, strengthening competitiveness, supporting diversification and accelerating the reallocation of resources from low-productivity sectors to higher-productivity ones. She also argued that when supported by enabling regulation, financing and data analytics, these technologies can improve living standards and help countries build durable competitive advantage.

Illustrating both the opportunity and the gap, Keita said artificial intelligence is projected to contribute 5.6 per cent to GDP in Africa, Oceania and developing Asian markets by 2030, below expected levels in North America, Europe and developed Asian economies. She cited projections showing Africa's Internet of Things market could grow from $7 billion in 2024 to more than $20 billion by 2031, while the continent's biotechnology market could reach $138.2 billion by 2030.

Ms Keita highlighted the practical value of frontier technologies across sectors, pointing to digital payment systems and mobile money as tools that are already lowering transaction costs, broadening access to finance and supporting economic inclusion. In agriculture, she cited drought-tolerant maize developed in Kenya and Tanzania and the use of multispectral satellite imagery by sugarcane farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as examples of innovation improving productivity, water efficiency and climate resilience.

Keita also linked frontier technologies to implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. She said e-commerce, payment interoperability, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System and the Africa Trade Exchange can help reduce transaction costs, improve transparency and make cross-border trade more efficient across the continent.

At the same time, she warned that Africa faces serious constraints that must be addressed. She said the continent accounts for less than 1 per cent of global data centres, a major obstacle to artificial intelligence deployment and a reminder that infrastructure deficits and data sovereignty challenges remain central policy concerns.[5][4]

She added that the continued storage of much of Africa's sensitive data outside the continent raises concerns over cost, delays, security and sovereignty. Gaps in institutional capacity, outdated digital policy frameworks and dependence on imported hardware, software and cloud infrastructure, she said, also leave African economies exposed to supply shocks, price volatility and technology lock-in.

On employment, Keita said Africa's young population could become a major comparative advantage in the digital era, but only if countries invest in skills. She stressed that the continent will benefit from the jobs created by artificial intelligence and automation only if governments prioritize digital training and prepare workers for a changing labour market.

To unlock the benefits of innovation-led growth, Keita called for stronger national leadership on frontier technologies, support for micro and informal enterprises, and urgent investment in infrastructure, energy and data systems. She said agile national teams can help design policy, mobilize government action, attract investment and signal that countries are ready to harness technology for development.

The Committee of Experts opened in Tangier on 28 March 2026 and will feed into ministerial deliberations during the fifty-eighth session of the Commission. The meeting is expected to shape concrete decisions on how African countries can use innovation, data and frontier technologies to accelerate structural transformation, job creation and inclusive growth

Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
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Addis Ababa
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