Digital Transformation: Aligning Italy’s Piano Mattei with African Development Priorities

Africa’s digital landscape is undergoing rapid transformation driven by a surge in entrepreneurial activity and widespread adoption of digital technologies. The Digital Flagship – a strategic partnership between the Italian government, UNDP and four African countries – builds on this progress by leveraging Africa’s digital transformation to build climate-neutral, cyber-resilient digital infrastructure, strengthen digital public platforms and accelerate technology adoption to improve the accessibility and delivery of public services. However, the success of Africa’s digital transformation depends on overcoming key structural barriers including Africa’s widening digital infrastructure gaps, digital skills shortages, underdeveloped financing mechanisms and fragmentation caused by overlapping and uncoordinated digital initiatives. These structural bottlenecks risk undermining coherent regulatory frameworks and the long-term viability of Africa’s digital sector. Bridging these gaps is crucial to strengthening Italy-Europe-Africa digital partnership.

Revised version of a paper presented at the high-level expert workshop “Development and Digitalisation in Africa: Italy’s Cooperation Policy and Synergy with EU Plans”, convened in Rome on 9 May 2025.