Editor's note: Alexander Ayertey Odonkor is an economic consultant, chartered financial analyst and chartered economist with an in-depth understanding of the economic landscape of countries in Asia and Africa. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, "Change is the only constant in life." This adage is valid and perfectly delineates occurrences in the world today. Since time immemorial, the world as we know it has been changing continually. In recent times, one of the key drivers of change in the world has been digitalization, a newfangled wave that is transforming economic, social and environmental activities across all the continents.

This digital transformation is not different in Africa, where daunting snags have restrained economic growth and retarded development significantly for many decades. The adoption of digital technologies across countries in the region is currently unlocking new pathways that are enhancing innovation, creating new job opportunities, accelerating economic growth and providing pertinent solutions to societal challenges.

For Africa, a continent tagged with the identity of "poorly developed infrastructure" and sidelined by the West in terms of infrastructural development, to benefit significantly from digital transformation is a trajectory that is worth throwing more light on.

To call a spade a spade, Africa would not be reaping the unique rewards from adopting digital technologies if China, the region's largest foreign infrastructure investor, did not invest in scaling up the efficiency of the continent's information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure over the last two decades. Chinese ICT infrastructure projects in Africa have laid a solid foundation that is now supporting the widespread usage of digital technologies on the continent.

According to the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA), an initiative that was launched at the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in Scotland in 2005, Chinese investment dedicated to developing Africa's ICT infrastructure exceeded $1 billion for the first time in 2015.

Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE have enhanced digital connectivity among people, businesses and governments in Africa and are spearheading the region's ICT infrastructure development. The ICT infrastructure projects have also been partly supported by the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim) and the China Development Bank (CDB), which are state-owned institutions that provide funding for ICT infrastructure development in Africa.

The ICT footprint of these major Chinese institutions and telecom providers is evident across countries in the region. To highlight a few, in Cameroon, the Exim Bank of China agreed to a preferential loan of $338 million to fund the second phase of the National Telecommunications Broadband Network project. It was executed by Huawei and commenced in 2012.

Currently, this fiber-optic network provides high-speed internet to businesses and households, providing ICT infrastructure that supports a digital billing system, submarine cable system, high definition television networks and phone networks and numerous other benefits that promote social and economic activity in Cameroon.

Together with other Chinese ICT infrastructure projects carried out across countries in Africa, these facilities have enhanced the region's digital connectivity considerably. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reveal that internet penetration in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has increased tenfold since the early 2000s compared to a threefold growth for the rest of the world within the same period.

Again, the expansion of digital connectivity has boosted mobile money operations, an invaluable resource that is currently strengthening financial inclusion in Africa. Mobile money transactions on the continent average almost 25 percent of GDP, compared to only 5 percent in the rest of the world.

A 2021 report from the GSMA indicates that SSA, which has been at the forefront of the mobile money industry for more than a decade, continued to account for the largest share of global growth in 2020, contributing 43 percent of all new accounts. Out of the 300 million active accounts and the total transaction value of $767 billion worldwide in 2020, SSA alone contributed 159 million active accounts with a sum of $490 billion transaction value. Also, as of the end of 2020, the entire African continent was home to 562 million registered accounts, 161 million active accounts and a transaction value of $495 billion, the highest for a single region.

Africa's rapid digital growth has seen the light of day mainly because of China's input, such as technical expertise and funding. The continent's largest foreign ICT infrastructure provider's unflinching dedication to improving ICT efficiency has brought this remarkable outcome into fruition.

While Africa currently hosts the largest proportion of registered accounts worldwide, this number is expected to increase significantly in the coming years as digitalization accelerates. According to McKinsey Global Institute, by 2025, the region will have 600 million internet users, a growth that will add $75 billion e-commerce sales per year, $300 billion internet contribution to GDP – the largest social and economic impact is most likely to be concentrated in six sectors: financial services, education, health, retail, agriculture and government. The report further indicates that technology-related productivity gains in these sectors could reach $318 billion by 2025.

Clearly, none of these gains could have been realized if China had not developed the region's ICT infrastructure. In fact, China's approach to transforming African economies via digitalization has augmented access to healthcare, education, affordable financial services and other social services and created new jobs that have assuaged poverty and mitigated inequality, which are all significant contributions to achieving sustainable development.

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