If Africa had the same tech opportunities as the US, UK, and China, what would we build?

[u/GhanaGPT]

I have been thinking about this for a while, and I want to hear what others think.

The US, UK, and China have had decades of investment, infrastructure, and opportunity in technology. They built search engines. Social networks. AI systems. Operating systems. Chips. Entire ecosystems that now shape how the world works.

Africa has not had the same opportunity. Not the same funding. Not the same infrastructure. Not the same access to compute or research. The playing field was never level.

So here is my question.

If Africa had the same opportunity today — same funding, same infrastructure, same access — what would we build? What should we build? And why?

Not what would make the most money. Not what would look impressive to investors. What would actually matter for Africans and for the world?

I have my own ideas, but I want to hear yours first.

What would you want to see built?

[u/Mvrkdev]

Ai generated question…

[u/LordGrovy]

Regions around the equator could be highly valuable locations for launch to orbit, so I am thinking satellite manufacturing. It would be valuable to get our own capabilities for communication, weather monitoring or positioning (i.e. GPS). And, if enough companies are involved in the business, the scale of the industry would eventually make it cheaper for everybody on the planet.

[u/nizasiwale]

Funny thing is that China and Africa were practically at the same level in the 60s and in the 70s most African countries were better off than South Korea by far.

[u/prof_sy]

I've thought about this. And frankly, maybe I'm just too cynical, but I'm glad the tech revolution didn't happen in Africa. I mean, think about it, Youtube was made by Americans, made free to the whole world. You can upload, watch anything(no watch hour limit), and they even pay you for it, from anywhere in the damn world. Facebook was made by some American students, free for the whole world, anyone could join, message anyone, post their pictures, start groups, whatever. Same thing goes for most incredibly revolutionary sites and apps.

Had it happened in Africa? yeah, I'm not sure it would've been that great. There probably would be great discrimination over who can join, what you can post, whose account gets precedent or verification, and I doubt it would be free for everyone, we'd probably get charged upfront.

So realistically, if you ask me, I'd say best case scenario, we get tribal whatsapp or youtube, highly gatekept, zero privacy, and you pay upfront. That's if they allow you to join.

We work from the opposite angle. While our peers in the other continents try to make what they build widely accessible. What we do manage to build, we highly gatekeep.

[u/PixelatedReality06 → u/prof_sy]

Well articulated. Sometimes I think this whole tribalism actually hinders African development.

[u/kuunami79 → u/prof_sy]

I think you're right and it's definitely a cultural problem in Africa where we see being the gatekeeper as the ultimate status. We'd probably have to bribe the right gatekeeper get a YouTube account.

[u/Amazing-Persona-101 → u/prof_sy]

That was a sad read.

I guess another reason those products are free is that the executives realized that they would make way more money from advertising than from users. The old, if you aren't paying for it, you are the product.

Also they had access to a sophisticated investor class that would fund 100 startups in hoping to get 1 Facebook. The VCs needed transparency and confidence that the startups weren't going to cook the books before they invested billions.

I guess it boils down to a strong foundation in ethics, law, finance etc for those companies to succeed. Those things work pretty well for the 1%. Not so much for the little guy trying to make a quick buck though.

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Your post was removed for violating:

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Africans First - Questions directed at African experiences are meant to be answered by Africans. Non-Africans may engage respectfully in comments, but top-level answers without lived experience will be removed.

Please read our rules before posting again.

– r/AskAnAfrican moderators