Top 10 Readiness for Frontier Technology Index

Frontier technologies are being used to provide services via digital platforms that have spurred the creation of a ‘gig economy’. Some of this work is locally based, but there is also ‘cloud work’ that can be performed anywhere via the Internet. Using, adopting, and adapting frontier technologies requires sufficient ICT infrastructure, especially since AI, IoT, big data, and blockchain are internet-based technologies.Frontier technologies already represent a USD350 billion market, to reach over USD3.2 trillion by 2025. Among the frontier technologies, the largest by market revenue is internet of things (IoT). Market size of IoT is estimated to reach USD1.5 trillion by 2025, robotics USD499 billion, solar PV USD344 billion, 5G USD277 billion, AI USD191 billion, big data USD157 billion, and drones USD141 billion.

In the rank, African countries feature in the lower-middle and largely in low-ranking categories.

In fact, there have been some successes in attracting investment into Africa’s tech startups. For instance, in 2018, annual equity funding for tech startups in Africa doubled to more than USD1 billion—around 2.5Pct of total FDI. Nine countries received more than USD10 million: Kenya received USD348 million, Nigeria USD306 million, South Africa USD250 million, Tanzania USD75 million, Egypt USD67 million, Malawi USD28 million, Senegal USD22 million, Rwanda USD19 million, and Ethiopia USD11 million.

Ethiopia is 150 out of 158 countries in the ranking. In the sub-indexes, Ethiopia ranked 152 in ICT, 155 in skills, 86 in R&D, 144 in industry, and 134 in access to finance. EBR

[table id=27 /]

9th Year • May 16 – Jun 15 2021 • No. 98