It may sound like science fiction, but a Nigerian-born tech entrepreneur thinks he's found a way for Africans to escape problems like inequality and bad governance: a virtual nation born on the internet.
Theirs is one of many African-led virtual projects that aim to help the world's poorest continent harness digital growth and tackle real-world problems, though some tech experts say these
online
spaces risk reproducing the inequalities of the
offline
world .
Internet as a tool for equality
“There are a lot of things that exclude us as Africans from real-world opportunities,” says Emole, co-founder of Afropolitan, a networked state-building project.
"(Internet) is the only place in the world that serves to equalize."
The development of the metaverse – a shared
online
environment where people can meet, buy virtual goods and attend events – has raised concerns about digital rights, privacy and inequality in the realm.
“What happens to a grandmother in rural South Africa without an internet connection?” asks Thami Nkosi, an activist and researcher with the South African non-profit organization Right2Know, which works to improve access to public information.
"We have no broadband, no internet, no electricity, so who will benefit from this?"
Some researchers and activists believe that as mobile phones and internet connectivity spread across the continent, opportunities will open up, stressing the need for products to be tailored to African needs.
The emerging virtual economy already includes some 2.5 billion people and generates billions of euros each year, according to a report by market research firm L'Atelier.
“Most of the technology platforms we use in Africa were created in North America, Europe, the Middle East or China,” explains Johan Steyn, chair of the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Special Interest Group at the Institute of Technology Professionals. Information South Africa (IITPSA).
"We need an African lens on the use of smart technology to accommodate the people of this continent," he adds.
The founder of a South African tech startup, Mic Mann, believes that bringing the metaverse to Africa is part of the continent's "future-proofing" to ensure that the digital space continues to expand.
"It's going to change everything: the way we work, live and play," says Mann, co-founder of Ubuntuland, self-described as the continent's first metaverse marketplace.
Pan-African Digital State
The Afropolitan project addresses the more than 140 million people who make up the African diaspora and ultimately intends to expand into a physical territory.
Born in Nigeria and raised in the United States, Emole thinks he can offer solutions to poor governance in many countries on the continent, which he points to as a key driver of emigration.
Allow us to reintroduce ourselves… We are AFROPOLITAN, a new Digital Nation.
Join the Network of Abundance.
#Afropolitan pic.twitter.com/tyrI0zvZUu
– Afropolitan.eth 🅰️🌶 (@afropolitan) May 30, 2022
The creators of Afropolitan raised $2.1 million (€2.04 million) in a funding round in June to help develop the Digital State, and 10,000 people have signed up for more information and updates, according to data from the company itself.
Its founders plan to launch it initially with the sale of NFTs (non-fungible tokens, unique digital images that, although infinitely reproducible, are individually owned).
These NFTs will serve as a “digital passport” to Afropolitan's physical events and spaces, before developing an app that allows members to transfer money and purchase goods and services.
Emole, which is based in Silicon Valley, explains that the project will span the internet and the metaverse, gradually expanding into a "complete digital country with its own native currency and shared purpose."
The founders later plan to acquire land from governments to create a series of Singapore-style autonomous cities with “large-scale sovereignty” and even provide services to citizens, such as water and electricity, using cryptocurrencies.
These physical territories will also include
Afropolitan
embassies that could help citizens challenge government incompetence by providing alternative leadership and financial structures.
“We want to solve the biggest problem of all, which is governance, because when you have good governance, everything else can prosper,” says Emole.
The project is still in a first phase of collecting support and money before starting to build its intended application.
The tech researchers wonder if their plans are feasible.
“Governance is much more than a virtual space online,” says Right2Know's Nkosi.
“I doubt we can digitize nation-states, built on a power base of the political elite who would always want to hold onto ultimate power,” adds Johan Steyn, chair of the South African Artificial Intelligence Special Interest Group, who also acknowledges that the idea is interesting and deserves to be debated.
Other cities and countries have been eyeing the potential of the metaverse.
The city of Seoul and the island nation of Barbados announced last year that they would enter it to provide administrative services.
Risks and rewards
Mann, founder of tech startup Ubuntuland, hopes metaverse spaces like the one he created will become a "job creation tool" where users can showcase their skills or earn money online.
In February, Mann began selling plots on his virtual marketplace, where he purports to showcase African art, music, technology and design.
At the moment, the telecom giant MTN and M&C Saatchi Abel (a South African marketing agency) have already invested in plots.
According to Mann, with the Ubuntu Token cryptocurrency users will be able to buy and customize land, set up shops, therapeutic spaces, concerts, movies and games.
“I expect millions of jobs to be found in various metaverses around the world,” Mann stresses,
The Afropolitan team. Courtesy of Afropolitan
Researchers of these technologies say that both these online projects and metaverses open up new avenues for communities, but are unlikely to be a golden bullet for solving complex problems.
“Technology offers promising solutions to health and education problems, hopefully leading to better opportunities for all… We need people like this to push the boundaries and dream of what might be possible,” Steyn sighs.
Yet utopian online projects could run up against the same problems of crime, corruption and inequality they are trying to escape, Nkosi and others note.
“We are seeing a replication of the frictions of the physical world in the virtual world,” adds Kanis Saengchote, an associate professor of banking and finance at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, who has researched the metaverse.
Although some plots in the metaverse sell for millions, Saengchote says it's debatable whether virtual land has "real value."
There are also risks of fraud and fraud, as in offline
transactions
, warns the expert.
Emole, the co-founder of Afropolitan, however, maintains that concern about financial crime is a “valid criticism”, but that in his community they will combat it with both advanced fraud detection and education about potential scams.
Both he and Mann anticipate that there will be a lot of trial and error to ensure virtual spaces don't become elitist or divisive.
"Best of all, it's going to be an experimentation of what is really possible in our time," says Emole.
This report was originally published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covers the lives of people around the world struggling to live freely or justly.
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