Pan-African Futurism: Ghana and the Paradox of Technology for Development

Ghana has been a crucial site of encounters between the West and Africa and a historic center for twentieth-century Pan-African independence movements. Today, it has also emerged as an important node of technology-driven development in the Global South. Ghana’s activist software developers and digital diaspora are redefining the role of technology, not simply as a means for economic growth, but as a tool for greater African political autonomy. In this rich ethnography, Reginold A. Royston uses the term ＂Pan-African futurism＂ to describe the redemptive ethos among technologists working on development projects on the ground in Africa today. Royston charts the explosion of mobile Internet access on the African continent, growing interest in African tech entrepreneurship, and the flowering of digital transnational ties. Ghana’s Pan-African futurists advocate entrepreneurship and civil society activism as a means of ＂hacking＂ the kinds of socioeconomic development that have long been advocated by NGOs. Using participant observation and interviews with tech developers on the ground and media producers in the diaspora, including in virtual spaces and with communities online, Royston provides a nuanced portrait of tech users focused on ＂social good＂ emanating from the Global South, expanding the discourse for contemporary Pan-African politics.

Reginold A. Royston is Assistant Professor in the Department of African Cultural Studies and the Information School at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research explores digital media, sound studies, and technology in Africa and the Black diaspora. He has been doing qualitative research on new media since 2008, initially inspired by his years as a reporter and graphics editor at National Geographic, Village Voice Media, and Knight Ridder newspapers. He is a founding member of AI for Afrika. His work can be found at www.raroyston.com.