What do the railway line between Dakar and Koulikoro built by the French colonial administration at the beginning of the 20th century and the 70% installed 4G network have in common? by Chinese technology company Huawei? How are Belgian rubber farms in the forests of today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) similar to the massive collection of data that Facebook mines from Free Basics users, your free access service to basic internet tools? What brings these realities together, separated by decades or even centuries, is, according to some activist groups, an extractivist spirit. That is, the will to take advantage of the resources present in a country or region to generate wealth that the inhabitants of that territory will not enjoy. It was the objective that encouraged the exploitation of the colonial company in Africa and they say that it is the threat that now hides the global digital transformation.
The Ugandan Pollicy is one of the organizations that warns of the perverse practices that the global economy has in store for the African continent and has reflected this in an investigation entitled Automated Imperialism, Expansionist Dreams: Exploring Digital Extractivism in Africa. Favor Borokini is one of the authors of the study and, via email, considers that the forms of extractivism identified show that there is “a continuity of looting” referring to the validity of the motivations of the colonial era. This Nigerian researcher specialized in data and digital rights assures that “the big tech (the giants of the technological sector) extract information and absorb talent instead of building knowledge and experience”.
The research, powered by Pollicy, illuminates the detrimental effects of digitization hidden behind pixels and the modernity of the internet world. Interestingly, when that innovation is supported by unequal relationships, the ghosts of the exploitation that was intended to be overcome come to life. The authors of the study have identified the most common examples of this dark side of digitization, have related them to specific cases and have proposed mechanisms, in many cases already existing, to combat threats. The report draws parallels between practices of abuse of the digital economy and those of the plunder of colonization.
The labeling of data that Artificial Intelligence needs for its training is carried out in Kenya, Uganda or South Africa by workers who describe thousands of photographs for hours
Another of the report’s authors, Garnett Achieng, resorts to the sentence of the researcher Sareeta Amrute who affirms that “a colonial relationship is: hierarchical, extractive and exploitative; produces unequal consequences and malevolent paternalism”. This researcher of Kenyan origin explains, also by email, that extractivism is manifested both in coltan mining in the DRC and in “the massive collection of data by technology companies” and in exploitation through “underpayment to invisible collaborators such as content moderators or data taggers”, for example.
Unlike what happened in colonial times, part of these exploitation practices take place in the relative immateriality of the digital space. As it happens, for example, with labor abuses. Some of the most spectacular innovations are based on work that has moved to African countries. For example, data labeling than artificial intelligence you need for your training is done in KenyaUganda or South Africaby workers who spend hours describing thousands of photographs, which then serve as the basis for machine learning machines. The same goes for text translations for bots or content moderation operations for social media platforms.
ZTE and Huawei have developed most of the continent’s network infrastructure: 50% of the 3G systems used by African telcos were built by Huawei and another 20-30% by ZTE
The researchers recognize that this sector is a source of employment in areas with high unemployment rates. However, when you look at working conditions, they hardly stand up to comparison. Garnett Achieng states: “Ghost workers located in the Global South hardly benefit from the huge profits. Big tech companies rely on data taggers to improve AI, but they don’t get credit for their work or competitive pay.”
The report also states that in South Africa, companies such as Amazon, Accenture and IBM have found “an English-speaking workforce” that they can hire for up to “40% or 50% less” than they would spend hiring locally.
Tax evasion and capital flight triggered
Likewise, the illicit outflow of financial flows has skyrocketed in the digital economy. The research reproduces data from the OECD that values ”annual losses due to tax evasion in Africa between 50 and 80,000 million dollars (43 and 70,000 million euros), an amount that exceeds the value of development aid”. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (CEPA) raises the value of capital flight to 89,000 million dollars (78,167 million euros). The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) points out that the sectors most prone to these capital flights in Africa are extractive industries, financial services and telecommunications.
On the other hand, data is one of the most lucrative businesses in the digital economy and one of the greatest vulnerabilities for African users. The report states devastatingly: “The African market exists as an untapped source.” From there, taking into account that it is a sector, according to the same study, valued at 2,140 million dollars (1,880 million euros) and that it is expected to reach 4,900 million dollars (4,305 million euros) for By 2027, it is not hard to see predators preying on user information on a continent with weak data protection laws and little enforcement capacity. The examples pointed out by the research range from the giants of the sector, such as Facebook through Free Basicsto local actors, as happened with the Ugandan transport company SafeBoda, which in 2021 was accused of sharing information about its users with an American customer acquisition and retention company.
For Borokini, the most abusive practices are “natural resource mining”, referring to the exploitation of raw materials dedicated to the technology industry, as is the case with coltan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and “infrastructure monopolies”. This last threat passes, often unnoticed. In this sense, the researchers collect a warning: “ZTE and Huawei have developed most of the continent’s network infrastructure: 50% of 3G systems used by African telcos were built by Huawei and another 20-30% by ZTE, while the former has built 70% of 4G networks and is likely to build all networks 5G”.
The scenario in the construction of data centers is similar and the research also points out that “African countries with a history of human rights violations and anti-democratic practices, such as Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, have been encouraged by Chinese officials to buy facial recognition surveillance systems”. The report does not forget the associations with private technology corporations such as Google and Facebook, for example, for the laying of submarine cables.
The Nigerian researcher recognizes that the persistence of these forms of exploitation is only possible due to the combination of the companies’ lack of scruples and profit-seeking, the complicity of local governments and elites, the weakness of legislation and the little awareness of much of society. Her Kenyan partner adds: “The negligence of the rulers regarding the Internet leaves a void that the technology companies fill, of course, at a cost.” Achieng warns: “States only care about digital issues when it comes to censorship and surveillance. This, combined with companies looking to market their malicious apps, is a dangerous mix.”
Achieng compares some of these abusive practices to explain how they affect citizens: “There are collaborations between African governments and Israeli or Chinese companies, for example, because the imperialist powers are not just the United States and Europe. Those companies are looking for data, populations to test their products, and profitable markets for surveillance technology.” And he completes the complaint: “The lack of attention to digital by African governments makes them disregard their duties to citizens. The exploitation by the big technology companies takes place under their gaze.”
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