When meaning arrives too late: Africa’s digital infrastructure and the West’s social media hangover

IN 2016, when I asked Oliver Fortuin what disruptive trend could render legacy telcos obsolete within a decade, he answered with one word: "content.

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Fortuin, then leading BT's Sub-Saharan operations (now CEO of Airtel Business Africa), had been arguing that "the conversation about Africa charting its own destiny doesn't happen without technology." He wanted Africa to move beyond merely deploying Western innovations to actually originating them: homegrown and home run, not just jumping on board at the roll-out stage.

Whether today's content landscape matches his 2016 vision, I can't say. But the disruption is undeniable, and the timing is peculiar.

The latest GWI social media report shows time on platforms peaked in 2022 and has declined since, with young people leading the retreat. Canadian startup founder, investor and advisor to TikTok and Reddit Greg Isenberg's viral observation captured the mood: "brain-rot is OUT. meaning is IN." Gen Z in mature markets is abandoning endless scroll for intentional communities and slow media: things that feel "real, slow, and intentional."

Meanwhile, just as the West experiences its social media fatigue, Africa is building internet connectivity at unprecedented scale.

According to GSMA Intelligence, Africa will reach 915 million mobile users by 2030 (up from 710 million in 2024), with mobile internet users climbing to 576 million. The industry contributed $140 billion to GDP in 2023 and is projected to reach $170 billion by 2030, supported by $77 billion in infrastructure investment through 2030.

Airtel Africa's 22% Q2 2025 revenue growth, driven by 71 million active data users, is one datapoint in a broader buildout: the 44 MW Nairobi data centre, Vertiv partnerships expanding capacity continent-wide, aggressive 4G/5G rollout.