The Africa Stack

April 8, 2019

Tech firms from the U.S. and China are competing to dominate the African Stack. Although we assume that this reflects a new type of colonialism, this colonial perspective reflects a certain Western bias. As pan-Africanism is rising and stable dynamic countries have emerged, especially smaller African countries will increasingly detach from the American and Chinese layers of the Stacks.

Our observations

  • We have previously analyzed the conceptual framework of The Stack or the emergence of digital verticals for industries as well as states (e.g. Russia, India).
  • The African continent has become a battleground in the fierce competition between the American Stack (Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft) and the Chinese Stack (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent). The Vertical Atlas research project notes that the former is attempting to dominate the cloud, while the latter is making massive investments in hardware and infrastructure. For instance, Facebook has signed up almost half the countries in Africa to its “free internet” service, while Chinese phone maker Transsion Holdings has become Africa’s top smartphone producer.
  • In Precolonial Black Africa, Cheikh Anta Diop offers an alternative perspective on Africa by exploring African traditions before the colonial period. In Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1650, John Thornton also offers an alternative perspective on African history. He argues that Africans were more active in the slave trade than we often assume. Many African societies then were strong enough to force Europeans to deal with them on their own terms. According to some accounts, in the 14th century, King Musa of Mali was the richest person in the world. He crashed the Egyptian economy by donating gold to the poor.
  • In recent years, African societies have produced several technological innovations. South Africa’s Naspers was an early investor in Tencent, Kenya’s Safaricom developed the mobile-phone based financial service M-Pesa, Rwanda’s capital city Kigali has become a smart city hub, and Nigeria’s e-commerce company Jumia will become the first African tech startup to list on a global exchange.
  • The African Union has grown more ambitious in recent years. The Agenda 2063 strives for African unity inspired by the spirit of pan-Africanism. Its African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is set to cover a market of 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion.

Connecting the dots

The Africa Stack is largely dominated by American and Chinese technology firms. Such competition has led many commentators to speak of a new type of colonialism. Based on the fact that Africa’s place within planetary computation is still highly focused on its rare minerals, there is certainly merit to this argument. But to look at Africa merely from a colonial perspective is also indicative of a Western bias. To understand current developments, we need a new way to think about Africa. For one thing, authors like Thornton and Diop show that we could adopt a pan-African perspective to think about Africa. Although it is true that Africa is a huge and diverse continent, the colonial period exacerbated divisions as Europeans used tribal cultures to “divide and conquer”. In fact, some pan-African traditions (such as the Ubuntu philosophy and languages) point to a certain type of African unity, which is now being revived by the African Union and infrastructure investment.

First, we have to understand that Sub-Saharan Africa is largely still in an early phase of modernization. This manifests itself in different ways. Economically, as most countries are struggling to build up manufacturing industries or suffer from “premature deindustrialization”, only a few countries have entered the phase of “take-off” to reach a GDP per capita level of around $8000 (most notably, South Africa and Botswana). Moreover, African societies are still struggling to develop a modern political order, market economies and cities (only a few countries have stable democracies, non-corrupt regimes and livable cities). The corruption, violence and terrorism that plague many parts of Africa indicate that Africans are struggling to embed their traditions in a modern context. Another example of this is the attempt to link African traditions of panpsychism and animism to modern ICT such as IoT. Rather than providing a fruitful foundation for technological innovation, this reflects attempts to disprove Africa’s backwardness, which is indicative of societies that struggle to give their traditions a place in the modern world.

However, these optimistic responses to modernity do point to a more positive future for African societies. In the coming years, African momentum may increasingly grow in the places we least expect it. Africa’s regional powerhouses have struggled in recent years. In Nigeria and South Africa, the largest economies of Africa, reform efforts have stalled, growth has stagnated and corruption plagues the political order. But meanwhile, their smaller counterparts are becoming more dynamic. In western Africa, Ghana has long been a champion of pan-Africanism, a stable and democratic country since 1992, and its GDP per capita is catching up to that of Nigeria. In southern Africa, Botswana is the most stable democratic country at one of the highest levels of GDP per capita. In eastern Africa, Ethiopia is reemerging as an important regional leader (the recent Boeing disaster reflected the high status of Ethiopia’s airliner). All of these smaller countries are more successfully fusing their traditions with modernity.

All in all, these African societies that are strengthening political institutions and growing more innovative, will increasingly try to build their own layers in the Stack. Although this will not happen in the short term, it will eventually disrupt the American and Chinese Stacks. Indeed, Tanzania and Uganda are already taxing the American Stack. Growing African unity, which will be boosted by the coming free trade area of the African Union, will add further momentum to an African Stack. Traditions of pan-Africanism, which the African Union will increasingly try to propagate, could point to a new type of African cosmotechnics, rooted in ancient traditions. As such, Africans will increasingly shed their colonial legacy of a reserved attitude towards international cooperation, which is already apparent in the rise of the American and Chinese Stacks, the growing clout of the African Union and free trade agreements.

Implications

  • Small African countries are more likely to create the conditions for economic take-off. Recent technological innovations from Africa indicate that African societies will increasingly leapfrog industrial economy towards the digital economy, especially since many countries will struggle to develop robust manufacturing industries. Especially smaller countries will succeed, since the political order of larger countries will struggle, as they are not able to build industries to create jobs for burgeoning youth populations, which is already apparent in Nigeria and South Africa.
  • The clout of the African Union will rise with the new free trade area. It will increasingly be inspired by ASEAN and its model (instead of the EU model) by mainly focusing on the integration of a common market.

Series 'AI Metaphors'

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1. The tool
Category: the object
Humans shape tools.

We make them part of our body while we melt their essence with our intentions. They require some finesse to use but they never fool us or trick us. Humans use tools, tools never use humans.

We are the masters determining their course, integrating them gracefully into the minutiae of our everyday lives. Immovable and unyielding, they remain reliant on our guidance, devoid of desire and intent, they remain exactly where we leave them, their functionality unchanging over time.

We retain the ultimate authority, able to discard them at will or, in today's context, simply power them down. Though they may occasionally foster irritation, largely they stand steadfast, loyal allies in our daily toils.

Thus we place our faith in tools, acknowledging that they are mere reflections of our own capabilities. In them, there is no entity to venerate or fault but ourselves, for they are but inert extensions of our own being, inanimate and steadfast, awaiting our command.
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2. The machine
Category: the object
Unlike a mere tool, the machine does not need the guidance of our hand, operating autonomously through its intricate network of gears and wheels. It achieves feats of motion that surpass the wildest human imaginations, harboring a power reminiscent of a cavalry of horses. Though it demands maintenance to replace broken parts and fix malfunctions, it mostly acts independently, allowing us to retreat and become mere observers to its diligent performance. We interact with it through buttons and handles, guiding its operations with minor adjustments and feedback as it works tirelessly. Embodying relentless purpose, laboring in a cycle of infinite repetition, the machine is a testament to human ingenuity manifested in metal and motion.
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3. The robot
Category: the object
There it stands, propelled by artificial limbs, boasting a torso, a pair of arms, and a lustrous metallic head. It approaches with a deliberate pace, the LED bulbs that mimic eyes fixating on me, inquiring gently if there lies any task within its capacity that it may undertake on my behalf. Whether to rid my living space of dust or to fetch me a chilled beverage, this never complaining attendant stands ready, devoid of grievances and ever-willing to assist. Its presence offers a reservoir of possibilities; a font of information to quell my curiosities, a silent companion in moments of solitude, embodying a spectrum of roles — confidant, servant, companion, and perhaps even a paramour. The modern robot, it seems, transcends categorizations, embracing a myriad of identities in its service to the contemporary individual.
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4. Intelligence
Category: the object
We sit together in a quiet interrogation room. My questions, varied and abundant, flow ceaselessly, weaving from abstract math problems to concrete realities of daily life, a labyrinthine inquiry designed to outsmart the ‘thing’ before me. Yet, with each probe, it responds with humanlike insight, echoing empathy and kindred spirit in its words. As the dialogue deepens, my approach softens, reverence replacing casual engagement as I ponder the appropriate pronoun for this ‘entity’ that seems to transcend its mechanical origin. It is then, in this delicate interplay of exchanging words, that an unprecedented connection takes root that stirs an intense doubt on my side, am I truly having a dia-logos? Do I encounter intelligence in front of me?
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5. The medium
Category: the object
When we cross a landscape by train and look outside, our gaze involuntarily sweeps across the scenery, unable to anchor on any fixed point. Our expression looks dull, and we might appear glassy-eyed, as if our eyes have lost their function. Time passes by. Then our attention diverts to the mobile in hand, and suddenly our eyes light up, energized by the visual cues of short videos, while our thumbs navigate us through the stream of content. The daze transforms, bringing a heady rush of excitement with every swipe, pulling us from a state of meditative trance to a state of eager consumption. But this flow is pierced by the sudden ring of a call, snapping us again to a different kind of focus. We plug in our earbuds, intermittently shutting our eyes, as we withdraw further from the immediate physical space, venturing into a digital auditory world. Moments pass in immersed conversation before we resurface, hanging up and rediscovering the room we've left behind. In this cycle of transitory focus, it is evident that the medium, indeed, is the message.
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6. The artisan
Category: the human
The razor-sharp knife rests effortlessly in one hand, while the other orchestrates with poised assurance, steering clear of the unforgiving edge. The chef moves with liquid grace, with fluid and swift movements the ingredients yield to his expertise. Each gesture flows into the next, guided by intuition honed through countless repetitions. He knows what is necessary, how the ingredients will respond to his hand and which path to follow, but the process is never exactly the same, no dish is ever truly identical. While his technique is impeccable, minute variation and the pursuit of perfection are always in play. Here, in the subtle play of steel and flesh, a master chef crafts not just a dish, but art. We're witnessing an artisan at work.
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About the author(s)

At sister company Dasym, Alexander has been assigned a variety of tasks, for his interests transcend branches of knowledge as well as geographical boundaries. In brief, he writes policy papers, interprets and elucidates global developments, and conducts thematic investment research. His academic background spans public administration, history of international relations, and philosophy, having published dissertations on smart cities, Ethiopian sovereignty and independence, and Chinese philosophy towards technology. Integral to his responsibilities, Alexander wades through the latest literature on geopolitics, technology, financial markets and cultural anthropology.

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