A Comparative Study of Digital Transformation among The Emerging Economies in Asia and Africa during 2001-2020

Puja Sunil  Pawar,

A Comparative Study of Digital Transformation among The Emerging Economies in Asia and Africa during 2001-2020

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to undertake comparative analysis examining the amount of digital transformation that took place in the selected Asian and African countries during 2001-2020. The study chose 10 emerging economies, from Asia and Africa, namely, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco, Pakistan, China, Japan, India, Indonesia. The sample countries selected showed major impact of digital transformation in their regions. The study emphasizes on analyzing qualitative data using scientific literature and quantitative data were examined using simple Microsoft Excel program. Pivot tables were used to summarize the calculations. The average, maximum and minimum values were calculated for all selected countries in both continents to avoid data confusion, and then the maximum value and the minimum value were calculated for each variable to show the data more clearly. The study found that all the chosen variables, the number of internet users and the percentage of rural and urban population were affected by digital transformation, resulting in shift of people from rural to urban areas for better digital access and infrastructure, but it majorly affected some poor African countries as compared to Asian countries. As a matter of fact, the governments in these countries must focus in their policies on investments to develop more digital infrastructure in all the regions of the country and not just in the developed cities or urban regions. This is important to curb migration of people for digital access. Thereby creating imbalances in the rural urban population and widening digital gap.

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