A Study Commissioned for Development Policy: Connecting Africa - Perspectives for Energy, Transport, Digitalisation and Research and Innovation

In 2020, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland commissioned a development policy related study on Africa’s connectivity. The authors of the current report are Ms. Eva Nilsson, PhD candidate at the Hanken School of Economics, Dr. Obert Hodzi at the University of Liverpool, Ms. Neema Komba, PhD candidate at the Hanken School of Economics, Professor Erkki Sutinen at the University of Turku, Dr. Mika Kautonen at Tampere University ,and Senior Researcher, Professor Liisa Laakso at the Nordic Africa Institute.

Connecting Africa (PDF, 77 pages, 3,4 Mb)

Development policy related studies are not academic research as such. The authors are academically qualified researchers, however, and they base their findings on academic studies.

The report focuses on Africa’s connectivity in four key sectors: energy, transport, digitalization and research & innovation. The approach to the study is presented in the Introduction.

Each chapter deals with one sector, and includes a summary, an overview of the sector, and an overview of the policy and investment environment. The study looks at connectivity both within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world.

The study aims at contributing to the Finnish and EU Africa policies. Therefore, each chapter also includes the authors’ recommendations for Finland and the EU.

Conclusions from all four sectors are summed up in the Concluding Words. The current Covid-19 pandemic crisis highlights the importance of connecting Africa.