from DION HENRICK in Cape Town
Western Cape Bureau
CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) – CHINA and Africa are the next technology powerhouses, culminating in a reversal of the brain drain that has benefitted Western nations over the years.
This is according to tech experts, basing their projections on a stance by India, whose government has established a successful programme to make the Asian nation a self-contained economy, in place of aligning foreign and economic policy with the West.
Executives from the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) delved into the issue.
Anurag Aggarwal, MEF Board Member and Vice President: Partnership and Alliances at Tanla, noted India has roughly a sixth of the global population yet often had to align foreign and economic policy with the West.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recognised this economic potential and, over the past three years, has established a successful programme to make the country a self-contained economy, Aggarwal said.
“As a result, I see 2023 bringing a reverse brain drain,” the executive forecast.
“Given the opportunities available, especially in the technology and the telecom space, a lot of that talent which moved out of India to the likes of United States and United Kingdom is likely to move back over the coming years,” Aggarwal said.
MEF believes one effect of this will be India beginning to dominate the overall tech space and more of Indians innovating solutions for the country rather than for the global West.
“Other countries may also follow suit,” said Dario Betti, Chief Executive Officer of MEF.
“China and African nations are key areas to look out for,” the executive stated further.
“With their huge populations and greater access to technology and information, China and Africa could well become the tech powerhouses of the future,” Betti projected.
China is the world’s largest nation by population, estimated at over 1,453 billion.
The 54-nation Africa’s population is estimated at more than 1, 424 billion. The continent’s population is the fastest growing.
More than half of global population growth between now and 2050 is expected to occur in Africa.
Jason Lunn, another MEF Board Member, called for an alignment of policies among stakeholders to ensure the security and standards across globalised technology.
“Yet, with the growth in tech dominance in India, China and Africa, this alignment is shifting out of the hands of the global West,” Lunn stated.
MEF, the trade body established in 2000, is hailed as the voice of the mobile ecosystem globally.
– CAJ News