It is often asserted that digitalization is the lever for development in Africa, that it and wide access to the internet will enable Africa to leapfrog over not just older technology but also centuries of marginalization and exploitation. Firouzeh Afsharnia’s insightful paper — made all the more accessible by her own photographs — is a broad and deep inquiry into those issues. She sets the context, ranging from ethnicity and the colonial legacy to demographics and connectivity.

Read the full report.