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AU-Startups
Focus area • 03

A digital economy that works for the excluded.

Africa’s digital transition will be defined as much by who it leaves behind as by what it builds. Our research and advocacy push for a digital economy that meaningfully serves MSMEs, women-led ventures, rural innovators, and informal-sector workers.

What we run

Flagship research — the annual State of African Innovation report and a standing series of policy briefs.

Regulatory engagement — structured dialogue with regulators, central banks, and ministries on digital-economy policy.

Public data — an open dataset on African startup funding, hub presence, and policy signals, updated monthly.

Why it matters

Digital-economy policy is currently being written in real time across the continent — data protection, AI, payments, platform labour, cross-border data flows. Africa’s innovators deserve evidence-based representation in those conversations, grounded in local realities rather than imported frameworks.

How to engage

Policy-makers: we are available to brief, co-author, and peer-review.

Researchers: our datasets are open; our methods are published.

Funders: we welcome partnerships on long-horizon research programs that outlast any single administration or funding cycle.

Read our latest briefing Request a policy consultation