The Hopes and Hazards of Africa’s Digital Revolution
Through his work on sub-Saharan African countries, Luca Maria Pesando is discovering how digital technology is reshaping the social fabric and norms.
The Hopes and Hazards of Africa’s Digital Revolution
Through his work on sub-Saharan African countries, Luca Maria Pesando is discovering how digital technology is reshaping the social fabric and norms.
These days, we take our own use of technology, the internet, and mobile phones for granted. But in more impoverished countries, it might have bigger implications.
“I think the big gamechanger was COVID,” says NYU Abu Dhabi’s Associate Professor of Social Research and Public Policy Luca Maria Pesando. “The role that technology had during the pandemic, even in low-income African countries, with mobile phones, the internet, laptops, and tablets becoming essential to help people stay in touch, or keep up with their child’s education, we’re now seeing how that adoption continues to have major repercussions.”
Pesando, who started his position at NYUAD in August 2022, has long been fascinated with the social demographics of a variety of different cultures and countries, but has mainly focused on sub-Saharan Africa which, according to the World Bank, is where more than half of the world’s extreme poor reside.
“I have a personal interest, as I spent a lot of time in Africa growing up,” he says. “My father was an eye surgeon who founded a hospital in Kenya, so I would travel there with my sister, and we would help out at schools and meet with African households. Eventually, I was able to combine this with my passion for statistical and econometric analysis, and look at sociological changes in families and schools in resource-deprived contexts.”
“In many households, in Zambia, Kenya, and Ghana, gender norms are rooted very much in favor of men, and perhaps a woman in possession of a phone could be seen as a threat, increasing her risk of domestic violence. That woman may have access to support or a shelter through her phone, but can she get to it? There are lots of variables here.”
“In many households, in Zambia, Kenya, and Ghana, gender norms are rooted very much in favor of men, and perhaps a woman in possession of a phone could be seen as a threat, increasing her risk of domestic violence. That woman may have access to support or a shelter through her phone, but can she get to it? There are lots of variables here.”
The various social norms and cultural practices of African countries react differently in the presence of digital technology. This, he says, influences the manner in which society evolves and provides the example of African women with phones being better informed about childbirth and access to various health services. Pesando asks whether this digital transformation creates a whole new era of empowerment or disruption.
Pesando talks of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and how technology is cited as a means to accelerate gender equality. This continued adoption in sub-Saharan African countries could potentially mean big changes in societies approving of marriage and childbirth for women at a very young age. He is looking at the schooling of children and working on a series of projects supported by the Jacobs Foundation in Switzerland.
“We’re looking at the effect of digital technology on narrowing the inequality in terms of education during COVID, accessing classes for remote learning. But also, how might it exacerbate inequalities for those not digitally connected? I’d love to convince telecommunications companies and international organizations to develop cheaper data plans, so that more people in poorer countries can take advantage, as it appears to be something that impacts in a beneficial way.”
In the past, Pesando has worked with the World Bank and UNICEF and a number of other academic organizations, examining how digital technology is shaping societal demographics in Latin America, Europe, USA, and Asia. Could his move to Abu Dhabi tempt him to study this region as well? “I’d love to,” he admits. “It’s so multicultural and there are so many population dynamics at play. I would even love to see a center for population studies, focusing on the dynamics of demographic change in the Middle East, as there are lots of interesting implications.”
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