I remember sitting in this one class and a Professor speak about the digital divide and all its implications for African generations and thinking to myself, will Africa ever catch up? It’s the same question that I still care about to this day and has been very fundamental in my life.
One thing I care a lot about is practical digital growth in Africa, not “buzzwords,” but simple improvements that help real businesses make better decisions.
Sometimes that’s as basic as: tracking where customers come from, understanding what products people actually buy, or cleaning up messy data so a business can plan inventory and cash flow. I’m interested in “data for good” that’s realistic: small steps, clear metrics, and progress you can actually feel.
I’ll share more of these ideas over time (and maybe a few mini case examples).
Question for you: If you ran a small business, what’s ONE number you’d want to know every week?
Feature Image address: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/shutterstock_2407098311.jpg?quality=75
2 Responses
Your post is thoughtful and personal, and I like how you start with that classroom moment and the big question of whether Africa will ever catch up digitally.
Hi Sineke, very interesting question, I was told by friends that in contrast to what the rest of the world might think many countries in Africa are developing and people there have access to almost everything that we have in the States. I think the digital divide is due largely to people living in rural areas with limited infrastructure and hopefully the younger generation will help bridge the gap.
If I run a small business, I think the one metric that I would care about is the number of returning users every week. I think it is important to build up a customer base to sustain the business in the long run.