The Smart Africa Alliance was founded in 2013 by seven African heads of state. Today, the organization includes forty member countries, more than fifty private sector members, and is expanding its strategic partnerships.

KaiOS Technologies, a Chinese tech company, has joined the Smart Africa Alliance, a political initiative aimed at promoting digital development in Africa. The partnership aims to accelerate digital innovation and foster sustainable development across the African continent, as announced in a press release published on Wednesday, June 26.

The collaboration ensures that previously unconnected citizens gain access to essential digital services such as messaging, news, entertainment, and education through affordable and reliable KaiOS-powered smart feature phones with internet access. Additionally, the partnership empowers businesses by distributing affordable merchant payment terminals leveraging KaiOS smart feature phone technologies, enabling underserved merchants to accept digital payments and manage their businesses efficiently.

This initiative is part of the Smart Africa project, whose primary goal is to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030. Supported by 40 African countries and several major international organizations, the alliance is multiplying partnerships to achieve this objective. In October 2023, it partnered with Orange Middle East and Africa to promote entrepreneurship and sustainable jobs for young people in Africa in the digital sector. Earlier in 2023, the pan-African organization teamed up with Amazon Web Services to equip young Africans with digital skills.

Internet usage in Africa has increased from 16% in 2013 to 37% in 2023, while the global average is 67%, according to data from the International Telecommunication Union. Regarding digital payments, mobile money leads the continent, generating $44.9 billion in transaction volume, valued at $836.5 billion. This amount represents 66.39% of the $1.26 trillion exchanged via mobile money services worldwide in 2022, according to the "State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023" by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA).

Adoni Conrad Quenum