Former Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has emphasized the need for Africa to embrace the digital revolution to unlock economic opportunities and address unemployment.

He made this call while delivering the keynote address at the 2025 African Business Club Conference at Harvard University.

Dr. Bawumia noted that for too long, Africa has lagged in global development, despite possessing immense potential.

He urged African policymakers to recognize transformative trends and act boldly and decisively in adopting digital solutions.

For us as a continent, the key lesson from our past experiences and those of others (developed and developing) is the awareness of the importance to recognize when something qualitatively new is going on, and for the will to face what’s new to act boldly, decisively, yet cooperatively, he stated.

He stressed that Africa’s digital transformation should be tailored to addressing critical sectors such as agriculture, health, education, financial accessibility, and public service efficiency, rather than focusing on futuristic innovations like driverless cars and humanoid robots.

At this stage of our development, we are not looking to have driverless cars or humanoids. We should aim at technology that can solve our problems in agriculture, health, education, access to credit, payment system efficiency, public service delivery, revenue mobilization, and so on, he explained.

On the sidelines of the conference, Dr. Bawumia engaged with Ghanaian students studying at Harvard and in Massachusetts. He described the interaction as a “refreshing moment” to exchange ideas with fellow Ghanaians in academia.

The African Business Club Conference at Harvard University is a prestigious annual event that brings together business leaders, policymakers, and academics to discuss strategies for Africa’s economic growth and development

Story By: Robicon Mornahson