Africa has emerged as a test bed of inclusive digital transformation. Initiatives such as interoperable digital ID systems, cross-border payment platforms, and local innovation ecosystems demonstrate that digital sovereignty can coexist with openness, rights protection, and growth.
However, while digital economy is expanding rapidly in many African countries, the structural asymmetries shaping global data flows persist. Without prompt investment in reliable digital statistics, inclusive data governance, and fair innovation systems, the promise of digital transformation risks reproducing the inequalities it seeks to address.
This policy brief addresses how the G20 can amplify Africa’s digital leadership by embedding social justice, labor rights, and sovereignty principles into global digital governance and standards such as through:
• Adopting a G20 digital statistics compact
• Advancing African-led integrated data governance
• Committing to people-first digital public infrastructure
• Promoting worker-centered AI governance
• Creating a standing working group on AI and labor rights
This brief will also be published as part of the T20 policy briefings for the G20 under the South African G20 presidency.
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