Across the globe, digital technology is reshaping how we live, how we work, and how we learn. From high-speed connectivity to AI, the pace of change is astonishing. However, almost a third of the world’s population remain offline and disconnected from the digital economy; and within the offline, is a group of people who live and work in connected areas but lack the tools or know-how to effectively and consistently access the internet.
Against this backdrop South Africa hosts the G20 Presidency – at a defining moment, not just for us as a country, but for the world. Our presidency has come with an extraordinary responsibility to bring forward the voices of the Global South – those too often left behind in the digital age.
Connection is ultimately about people: their opportunities, their dignity, and their future. That is why the Digital Transformation Task Force has worked to define a clear path forward. One that brings infrastructure to under-connected areas; lowers the cost of access; builds grassroots digital skills; and ensures that AI and emerging technologies are governed with ethics and transparency.
This was the message shared by Naspers South Africa executive director and CEO, Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, during a gathering organised by B20 South Africa’s Digital Transformation Task Force, which she leads as the chair.
Held in Johannesburg under the theme Connected futures: Moving from the Digital Divide to a Digital Dividend for South Africa, Mahanyele-Dabengwa stressed that small and medium businesses lay at the centre of the taskforce’s vision because in Africa, and across the world, it is these businesses that will drive jobs, growth and resilience in the years to come.
“Dialogue alone will not deliver the digital future we envision. We cannot let innovation race ahead while inclusion falls behind. We must invest, enable and lead. We must commit our capital, our talent, and our platforms to tackling the barriers that hold digital inclusion back. We also need to build the policy and regulatory frameworks that unlock innovation, safeguard the public, and ensure that digital growth is inclusive, trusted and sustainable,” said Mahanyele-Dabengwa at the event, which also had Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, in attendance.
The Digital Transformation Task Force has announced plans to explore mechanisms that will address the lack of funding for early-stage start-ups as part of its recommendations to the G20, which South Africa is chairing until November 2025.
Need for ecosystems to bridge divide
On the need for ecosystems and partnerships, not only capital, to advance digital inclusion and foster innovation, Mahanyele-Dabengwa pointed toward Digital Transformation Task Force co-chairs Vodacom’s Shameel Joosub and Charles Murito of Google Africa, among others, as laying the foundation for these engagements.
“With relationships being built, we [task force co-chairs] all know each other, we have all worked together for the past six months. It creates the foundations for us to be able to engage with each other, to come up with more use cases and more opportunities that we can create for the wider business ecosystem,” she said.
Also, in attendance at the B20 South Africa event was Takealot Group CEO, Frederik Zietsman, who believes that the digital divide can be closed through expanding the reach of e-commerce.
“What we have realised is that e-commerce becomes a catalyst for a lot of compounded economic activity. One xample is Takealot’s marketplace sellers. We have township-based sellers who sell their goods to customers nationally. All of a sudden, they are not limited to their geographical reality… That creates opportunities for them, their families and the society around them,” Zietsman said.
Connectivity, digital literacy, AI ethics
This marks the first in a series of dialogues that will help shape the lead-up to the B20 and G20 Summits in November as the Digital Transformation Task Force explores practical solutions to pressing issues such as investment and connectivity, digital literacy, AI ethics, and business support. The aim is aim is to reduce the digital gap that exists for those who remain offline and disconnected, and build inclusive digital ecosystems capable of bridging the digital divide.
For Mahanyele-Dabengwa and the Digital Transformation Task Force, Africa’s moment is now. As AI reshapes global industries, the continent’s young, connected population and fast-growing markets give it a once-in-a-generation chance to lead, not just adopt, the next wave of digital innovation. That means building ethical AI frameworks that reflect African values, developing homegrown applications that solve local problems at scale, and ensuring our entrepreneurs have the capital and data to compete globally.
In the months ahead, the Task Force will be turning dialogue into design: advancing bold recommendations, securing cross-sector commitments, and positioning the South African G20 Presidency as proof that the Global South can set the pace for a digital economy that is fair, inclusive, and globally competitive.
What are some of your suggestions for the Digital Transformation Task Force?
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