LSA Conference 2024: Innovating Information Technologies in Africa: Debating Authenticity and Global Connections

The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference

Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion

Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024

Panel Organizer: Davide Casciano (KU Leuven)

An increasingly interconnected world places Africa at the crossroads of global innovation and local creativity amidst rapid technological developments. In this panel, we aim to explore what actually is “African” and how it changes through the development of Africa’s Information and Communication Technologies sector. For example, Silicon Valley-inspired areas have emerged across Africa, drawing significant investments and raising African technology’s profile on the global stage. However, some scholars argue that these technological models are often imported from elsewhere with little consideration for the unique needs and challenges of the continent. Yet, technological innovations and their negotiation are also grounded in local historical and social contexts. By bringing together scholars who study Africa’s technology landscape, this panel will explore, among others, perspectives on authenticity and contextualization. How do technologists, experts, and entrepreneurs integrate local knowledge into their innovations? In what ways do African societies adapt technology to meet their local needs? How do colonialism and its legacies continue to influence technological developments in Africa and their global opportunities? If efforts are being made to decolonize technology and promote African-led innovation, what forms do these new technologies take? In what ways do diaspora communities use technology to exchange and negotiate symbols and resources? As technological innovations constantly emerge across the continent, considerations around inclusivity, equity, data privacy, and digital divides remain essential. By challenging notions of “technological triumphalism” as well as “Afro-pessimism”, this panel seeks to stimulate critical discussions and inspire novel research about the dynamic of technology futures in global Africa.

Part I
Making Afropreneurial Selves: Understanding Identity within the Lagos Startup Ecosystem by Kanyinsola Obayan Arigi (University of Pennsylvania)
Re-Assigning Meanings to Emojis: A Tale of Three Emojis in Nigeria by Ifeoma E. Udoye (Ojukwu University) and Ozioma J. Okey-Kalu (Federal School of Statistics)
Ghana’s New Tech Elites: The Production of Africanness as a Contested Extravertive Tactic by Technology Hub and Incubator Managers in Accra by Tessa Pijnaker (University of Birmingham)

Part II
The Value of Indigenous Wisdom: The Intersection of Entrepreneurs’ Local Knowledge and Technological Innovations In Africa by Jovita Chinelo Ejimonye (University of Nigeria)
Beyond Psychosocial Transformation: The Rhetorical Power of Technology in Nigeria’s Social Space by Abagha Ikechukwu (University of Nigeria)
Appropriating Tech Solvability in Kinshasa: Addressing Urban Entrapment by Katrien Pype (KU Leuven)

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