By Bright Philip Donkor
Shaibu Haruna, Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Money Limited, a subsidiary of Scancom Plc (MTN Ghana), has emphasised the urgent need for a collaborative approach to address Africa’s digital divide.
He made these remarks while speaking as a panelist on the topic ‘Leveraging Digital Infrastructure, Innovation, and Technology to Connect Africa’ on Day Two of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2025, held at the Accra International Conference on Friday, January 31, 2025.
He stressed that accessibility remained a fundamental barrier preventing millions from benefiting from the digital economy.
Haruna cited the GSMA Mobile Economy Report 2020, which revealed that Africa faces a mobile usage gap of approximately 60%. “To put this into perspective, Africa’s population is about 1.4 billion, meaning 60% of that population is effectively excluded from the opportunities that come with digital interconnectedness,” he noted.
According to Haruna, one of the biggest impediments to digital access is the affordability of smart devices. Many Africans still rely on basic feature phones, which lack the capacity to support advanced digital services. “A significant barrier is that many of our customers do not own smart devices, which are essential for leveraging big data and advanced digital technologies. Addressing this issue requires a fundamental shift in how we make digital access more inclusive,” he emphasised
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