Economic Report on Africa 2026: Growth Through Innovation: Harnessing Data and Frontier Technologies for Africa’s Economic Transformation

Harnessing data and frontier technologies offers significant opportunities for Africa to break from low-productivity trajectory and forge new pathways for inclusive and sustainable growth.Strategic adoption of frontier technologies across sectors offers the potential to leapfrog traditional development pathways, raise efficiency, support industrial upgrading, increase productivity, attract investment, create jobs, and promote economic diversification.Data, as a critical economic asset, and the new oil fuelling frontier technologies have also been instrumental in driving economic transformation worldwide and thus hold immense potential to accelerate Africa’s growth, innovation, and overall development.The Economic Report on Africa 2026, using a mixed-methods approach that includes empirical analysis and case studies, highlights the impact of innovation on economic growth and development through enhanced productivity.It also highlights the opportunities, risks, and challenges in harnessi