Transforming Africa

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.

As Africa stands at the threshold of rapid global and technological change, Transforming Africa offers a timely, agenda-setting response to the urgent call for bold, future-oriented innovation across the continent.

This edited volume explores how African countries can reshape their innovation ecosystems to meet contemporary challenges and opportunities. It brings together diverse perspectives on emerging issues such as artificial intelligence, fintech, and smart agriculture, alongside critical socio-economic themes including food systems, health, education, culture, fashion, and peacebuilding. Transforming Africa is a call to action: to reimagine Africa’s innovation agenda with greater urgency, creativity, and contextual relevance. It highlights the rise of alternative paradigms and local approaches to innovation that challenge dominant models and offer more inclusive and sustainable pathways forward.

Rich in insight and grounded in practice, this volume is essential reading for policymakers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and students interested in Africa’s development and innovation futures. It is the third in a series produced by the Africa Innovation Summit Foundation and is supported by ICESCO.

Author Biography

Olugbenga Adesida is a development policy and foresight specialist and co-Founder and Director of the Africa Innovation Summit and Bonako (Cabo Verde).

Geci Karuri-Sebina is an Associate Professor at the Wits School of Governance, and the ICESCO Chair for the Study of Innovation and Futures in Africa.

João Resende-Santos is an Associate Professor of International Studies at Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.