Which technology should Africa build?

Disclaimer: Content of this article are opinions of the author and not intended to be final decisions on the topic.

I have heard it more than once that the AI revolution is the one where Africa finally gets a chance to lead, not just consume. I was at the first Builder's Circle Kigali meeting recently, deep in that conversation, when Victor asked something that made me think.

"What is wrong with consuming?"

I paused. And honestly? It is a great question.

Africa is not behind because we consume. The whole world consumes. Countries import what they do not make. That is just how economies work.

The real problem is that we consume far more than we produce. That imbalance is where Africa loses. Not in the act of consuming itself.

Technology? The whole world consumes it. We do not need an African search engine. We do not need an African version of everything. Not yet, anyway not while our foundations are still shaky.

What Is Africa Actually Strong At?

Africa holds more than 60% of the world's uncultivated arable land. Our soil contains minerals that keep global industries running. That is not a small thing. That is an enormous thing.

Think about the Arab world. They lived in desert. Then they found oil. They did not try to out-manufacture Germany or out-tech Silicon Valley. They took what they had, built around it, and changed their position in the world completely.

Africa could do the same.

Can we do everything? No. Germans make the best cars. Europe dominates luxury. China makes almost everything else. Why are we trying to race them on their own track?

What if we stopped competing where we are weakest, and started leading where we are strongest, feeding the world, supplying the materials that power it, and owning more of that value chain?

What if we invested in technology that adds value to our minerals and agricultural produce, instead of building factories that copy what already exists elsewhere?

I am not saying Africans cannot build great technology or shouldn't be building technology startups (I, myself I am a tech startup founder). I am saying we keep playing catchup, and catchup is never a winning game.

We react to what the rest of the world does. We follow the trends they set. What if, instead, we chose our own direction? What if we asked; what does Africa need, and what is Africa uniquely positioned to give the world?

Tunde Leye made this point well in his article, "Africa Will Not Entrepreneur or Tech Its Way To Development." His argument is simple. He says that before startups and technology can create lasting change, the fundamentals have to be in place infrastructure, legal systems, stable currencies, serious investment in basic education. Without those, sustainable development stays a dream, no matter how many apps we build.

The technology Africa builds should not just copy Silicon Valley. It should solve African foundational problems. It should use African strengths to build African power foundations.

We do not need to reinvent the wheel. We do not need to build new systems from scratch. Someone has already done that. What we need to do is build on top of what exists, adapt it to our reality, and use it to grow from where we are strong.
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Ideas in this article were inspired by conversations from the recent AfroTalks conference in Kigali, conversations at Builders Circle event in Kigali, Personal Opinions, and online articles. All necessary sources are hyperlinked.