Nonetheless, we’re told this is the next great frontier for digital innovation. Data usage is surging; there are over 150 million active SIMs, internet penetration stands at 45.4%, with 107 million Nigerians online, and smartphones more accessible than ever.

But there’s a disconnect: 39.4% of Nigerians still don’t have electricity. In rural areas, three out of four people are poor, and smartphone ownership drops to 26%.

So, who are we building for? And why are we so comfortable ignoring those we’ve left behind?

The Illusion of Scale

There’s a dangerous myth in our space, that if you just give people internet, you’ve solved development. Tech founders repeat it, investors reinforce it, and policies are built around it. But the truth is, many of the people we claim to be building for can’t afford the very solutions we’re scaling.

It’s easy to design for urban customers with smartphones and stable power. That’s where the numbers are clean. But those are not the people most in need. In rural communities, where poverty is deepest, there’s no broadband, no power, and sometimes no roads. Scaling tech without solving these underlying issues is lazy.

Capital Misalignment

Most of the money flowing into Africa’s tech sector doesn’t come from here. It comes from foreign funds chasing growth metrics. But these investors are not interested in slow, complex problems like hunger, education, or electricity. They want user growth, low acquisition costs, and recurring revenue.

That pressure distorts priorities. A fintech startup is more likely to build another payment app for salaried professionals than create tools for market women in Aba or farmers in Zamfara. Why? Because investors aren’t patient, and the people most affected by poverty don’t fit the growth model.

Some founders are just waiting to hit the right metrics to raise their next round, not to fix anything fundamental. That’s not innovation, it’s extraction.

Innovation Can’t Breathe Without Infrastructure

Let’s not complicate it. You can’t build digital products that require constant access to power when 40% of the population lives in the dark. You can’t build online learning tools when millions of children don’t even have chairs to sit on in school.

We usually act as if tech can leap over these problems, that it’s somehow immune to bad roads, poor electricity, and broken policy. But we’re wrong. Tech built on broken systems will break with them.

The numbers speak loudly; urban smartphone penetration is 59%; rural is just 26%. Electricity access is patchy, and in some states, entirely unreliable. How do you scale when the pipeline itself is fractured?

Rethinking What to Build

There are exceptions; founders working to solve real problems from the ground up. People building solar-powered solutions for last-mile clinics. Platforms that work offline. Logistics networks reaching places telcos haven’t bothered with.

These are not the loudest startups, but they’re the most needed. We need more of them. Not another super app, not another crypto platform, not another same-day delivery service for people with iPhones.

It’s time we stop copying what worked in California and start asking: what works in Kano? What do people in Ekiti actually need?

Who’s Responsible?

Everyone involved has a role to play: founders, investors, policymakers. Founders must be honest about their markets. If you’re not solving anything meaningful, at least stop pretending that you are. Investors need to stop funding startups with shallow solutions wrapped in fancy decks. Governments should stop outsourcing their failures to the private sector and actually invest in infrastructure.

If we keep ignoring these responsibilities, we will keep scaling noise, not impact.

Internet growth is not development, SIM cards don’t build schools, and data usage does not guarantee a better life.

Yes, tech is scaling fast; monthly data consumption hit 1 million terabytes in January 2025, nearly double from two years ago. But what is the point of that scale if the majority of people still live in hunger and darkness?

If we truly want to build for the next billion, we need to first address the poverty, hunger, and systemic neglect that define the lives of the first. We don’t need more platforms, we need power, schools and clean water.

Until then, “the next billion” will remain a fantasy that benefits everyone except the people it claims to serve.

In terms of wealth inequality, seven in ten of the world’s most unequal countries are located in Africa.

Moreover, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Country Director for Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa points out that despite many African countries “undertaking some of the most redistributive spending in the world, particularly on education and health, inequality remains extremely high”.

This suggests that in order for the continent’s population to thrive economically in the future, it must also address digital inequality. 

While many articles have been written about the continent’s ability to ‘leapfrog’ stages of economic development, through the likes of cellular technology for instance, this isn’t universally true. Even though cities in some of Africa’s biggest markets embrace 5G, access still remains a major barrier for many.     

If Africa is to reach its full potential and secure the economic future that so many believe it is capable of, it is imperative that digital inequality is addressed immediately. 

Promising growth, but still room for improvement 

There is however, promising growth especially when it comes to internet access. According to Statista, Nigeria is set to add 35 million new users by 2026. In Ghana, World Bank figures show that 58% of the population is now online, with the number of new internet users also increasing by 6% between 2020 and 2021. 

Yet, there is still significant room for additional growth. Focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa, upwards of 800 million people are not yet connected to mobile internet.

A comparatively small proportion of those people (270 million) are not connected because they do not have the required coverage. However, of greater concern are the 520 million people across the region who could theoretically access the mobile internet but still don’t. This comes down to a number of interconnected reasons, including cost, lack of skills, education, age, and location.

As connectivity becomes cheaper and more ubiquitous, those numbers should organically decrease, presenting some economic benefits on its own, but it won’t be enough to ensure that Africa reaches its full potential. 

After all, 50% of the Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is already digitalised, a percentage that is expected to only increase in the coming years.

However, unless the right skills are developed to complement increasing connectivity, and enable the continent to effectively compete in the global digital arena, Africa risks becoming a net consumer in that economy, as organisations and entrepreneurs who fall into the other 50% will benefit.

Wide-scale skills development is needed 

In order for Africa to truly reach its digital economic potential, it also needs to address the unequal spread of digital skills across the continent.

This is true both for those entering the job market and those looking to become entrepreneurs, for which it is important to remember that a broad range of skills will be increasingly required.

Furthermore, those able to develop software, or build and repair digital infrastructure will of course remain sought after, but those who can effectively market businesses to growing online consumers will also be of high importance.

According to a study by The International Finance Corporation, 230 million jobs across the continent will in fact require a level of digital skills by 2030, Included in that number are HR, marketing, sales, and operations roles.

Newly online consumers represent a lucrative target audience for businesses around the globe. As such, they are largely targeted via major social platforms including Twitter, Snapchat, and Spotify. Thus, it is also imperative for businesses across Africa to understand how to effectively reach their audience organically and through platform advertisements.

This is something we at Ad Dynamo and the wider Aleph Group fundamentally understand, which is why we want to be part of the solution. This is why we recently launched our Digital Ad Expert educational programme in Nigeria and Ghana.

The free online programme aims to educate, certify, and connect thousands of people across Africa with the necessary digital skills to succeed in a rapidly digitalising economy.     

While some people in these markets have the resources needed to build up these skills on their own, we believe it’s critical to narrow the gap and reduce inequality as much as possible. 

Now is the time

Thus, it is time to truly bridge the divide, and close the gaps evident across the African continent, so we can ensure its digital future.

Fortunately, there is a growing number of prospects opening up to people in Africa, and with the help of solutions such as those provided by Digital Ad Expert, the opportunity to discover the world of digital marketing, and the potential it holds for you, or your business is unparalleled.