A youngster with a smartphone or a laptop and a burning idea in Nairobi should have the same opportunity as another in Silicon Valley. A smart mind in Kenya, like a smart mind in the US only needs a computer and an internet connection to turn an idea into a successful start-up. The culture of entrepreneurship is perhaps stronger in Africa than anywhere else in the world.

Of Africa’s working-age population, 22% are starting new businesses, the highest rate of any region in the world according to the African Development Bank Group. Harsh conditions have raised generations of risk-takers who pursue self-sustainability.

On a continent with large areas with very limited infrastructure of any kind, digital infrastructure and services become even more crucial. Digital technologies efficiently address market failures. Connecting fishermen and farmers so that they would instantly know to which port or market to direct their goods provides huge efficiency gains in territories where those goods would have to travel a long distance on a low-quality road. Allowing people to use mobile banking services is more than a convenience where a bank branch may be hundreds of kilometers away.