The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has raised concerns over the high cost of technology in Africa, warning that businesses on the continent face costs up to 35% higher than global averages.
Dahlia Khalifa, IFC’s Regional Director for Central Africa and Anglophone West Africa, disclosed this at GITEX Nigeria 2025 in Lagos on Wednesday, September 3.
“African businesses face technology costs up to 35% higher than in other regions.
“Despite 86% of firms having access to mobile phones and the internet, only a fraction of these tools are put to their fullest potential. Inadequate infrastructure, digital literacy gaps, and limited financing continue to slow down adoption,” she noted
Khalifa highlighted that African Businesses could benefit more than 600,000 formal businesses and 40 million micro-enterprises in Africa.
“The price of addressing these challenges is too enormous not to. In IFC’s recent report, Digital Opportunities in African Businesses, it shows that the digital transformation here could benefit over 600,000 formal businesses and 40 million micro-enterprises, boosting productivity, raising wages, and creating better quality jobs and livelihoods for all,” she said
Call for partnerships
IFC called for stronger collaboration between governments, businesses, and international partners to mobilise capital, build trust, and create enabling policies.
“This is why the role of the private sector and public-private dialogue is decisive.
Infrastructure is the foundation, but entrepreneurship is the engine, as we can see outside these doors and in Denmark. To seize this opportunity, we need reliable broadband, robust data centres, modern digital infrastructure, and more energy, particularly clean energy, so that it can be sustainable. We need investment in skills and training programmes that prepare Africa’s youth for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
And we need partnerships between governments, the private sector, and international institutions to create the right policies, foster trust, and mobilise capital at scale,” she said
More insights
IFC says it has invested over $6 billion in Africa’s digital infrastructure over the past decade, channeling funds into data centres, fibre networks, and broadband connectivity.
“Over the past decade alone, we have financed over $6 billion in Africa’s digital infrastructure, from data centres to fibre networks to affordable broadband, and that doesn’t include what we have financed in the energy space,” Khalifa said.
According to her, IFC invested more than $1 billion in connectivity projects in 2024 alone. This included $100 million channelled into Raxio Group’s data centre and WIOCC’s fibre expansion in Nigeria, with the Lagos-based IFC-backed Rax Centre now setting benchmarks for green data facilities.
Khalifa explained that IFC is also backing entrepreneurship through venture capital and startup programmes, supporting over 100 firms in fintech, health tech, edtech, and e-commerce, including Trade Depot, Andela, and Wave Mobile Legend, which are creating jobs and expanding digital services across Africa.
