South Africa: The Entry Point into Africa’s Digital Economy

Caspian Energy (CE): As we move further into 2026, what are your Ministry’s flagship priorities for fostering a culture of innovation within South Africa’s ICT sector, and which emerging technologies do you believe will have the most transformative impact on the national economy this year?

Solly Malatsi, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies of the Republic of South Africa: South Africa’s ICT innovation agenda rests on four interconnected priorities. The first is connectivity and access, i.e. getting affordable data and devices into the hands of people who are currently excluded, because innovation ecosystems cannot thrive on a foundation of exclusion. The second is digital skills, which must develop in parallel with access. The third is productive use: ensuring that once people are connected and skilled, they can leverage technology for genuine economic and social participation. The fourth is creating the enabling environment for investment and innovation: predictable regulation, reduced barriers to entry, and a policy framework that de-risks both domestic and international investment.

On transformative technologies, artificial intelligence stands out as the most significant near-term force. South Africa’s G20 Digital Economy Working Group, which we chaired, recognised AI’s potential to transform economies and drive inclusive growth but also flagged clearly that digital divides significantly limit who benefits from AI. Our focus is therefore on ensuring that AI is not only deployed, but deployed equitably, including through the development of local language models and open-source approaches that make AI relevant and accessible to South Africans across all income levels and language groups. Low-earth orbit satellite connectivity is another genuinely transformative development, with particular potential for connecting remote and rural communities that terrestrial infrastructure cannot easily reach. Digital Public Infrastructure – the interoperable, open-standards-based systems that underpin government service delivery – rounds out the list, given its cross-cutting potential to improve everything from healthcare access to financial inclusion.