The International Finance Corporation has disclosed that the high cost of digital equipment and software in Africa is stopping businesses from digitalisation of their operations.
The IFC disclosed this in a report titled ‘Digital Opportunities in African Businesses,’ urging that African firms could better leverage digital technologies to help their businesses become more productive and profitable.
“Digital equipment and software cost more, in terms of US dollars, in Africa than in other regions, thereby deterring firms from adoption.
“Using novel datasets with item-level information, this research finds that machinery and equipment, both digital and analogue, are 35–39 per cent more expensive in Sub-Saharan Africa, in absolute terms, than in the United States, and 13–15 per cent more expensive in North Africa.
