Africa's Digital Future Includes Everyone

Accessible tech opens doors for youth with disabilities

Across Africa, young people with disabilities are pushing past barriers to enter the digital world — and thrive in it, reshaping what inclusion looks like.

But that progress depends on more than just tools and training. From inclusive design and multilingual tech to accessible funding and global partnerships, changemakers say accessibility must be built in from the start.

Real equity, they argue, means listening first — and letting local leaders lead.

Saving Services for the Disabled

Among those leaders is Irene Mbari-Kirika, founder of inABLE, a nonprofit advancing digital accessibility in Africa.

She also heads Technoprise Global, a people-first digital agency that employs persons with disabilities to deliver accessibility services, including audits, testing and inclusive user experience research.

She spoke with disability and access experts Antonio Vieira Santos, Neil Milliken and Debra Ruh about how to best serve young people with disabilities, giving them the chance to thrive.

“We must ensure youth with disabilities in Africa have access to digital skills training,” Mbari-Kirika said. “Digital literacy is fundamental to meaningful participation in today’s tech-driven world and key to unlocking opportunities in education, employment and innovation.”

Adjust to Conditions

Everyone acknowledged there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

“Ensuring digital accessibility around the world requires different approaches depending on the cultural, geographical and economic contexts,” said Milliken, vice president of accessibility at Atos. “Africa is mobile first, so we need to think of accessibility in the context of the small screen, but there are big connectivity differences.

“The fast growing cities have infrastructure and connectivity,” he said. “They can access cloud services, including assistive technology, but rural areas may have poor signals. That means you need to design for on-device access. Then we have to think about language.”

Santos, a future of work expert and sociologist, wants to prioritize inclusive design, integrate assistive tech and ensure accessibility in education systems.

“Empower young people with disabilities by raising awareness among developers and policymakers,” he said.

Disabled People Must Face Greater Challenges from Those in Power

While Ruh, an author and CEO of Ruh Global IMPACT, favors inclusive design, there must be more.

“Young people with disabilities need accessible tools, affordable devices, digital literacy training and a seat at the table in shaping tech,” she said. “Inclusion is innovation.”

Beyond the European Union and United States, advocates seek effective ways to create awareness about accessibility in the private sector and governments around the world.

Mbari-Kirika believes the key is convening.

“Bring together local, regional and global stakeholders to share accessibility knowledge, foster collaboration and support one another through the accessibility journey,” she said. “For example, use platforms like the Inclusive Africa Conference.”

Confer More Often

Other nations afford similar possibilities.

“Conferences like the Global Disability Summit held in Berlin this year brought together people from around the world,” Milliken said. “They shared what they are doing, but we need to be sharing more frequently than every three years.

“We also need to be engaging with mainstream events rather than in an accessibility bubble,” he said.

Santos wants global collaboration to establish accessibility standards, host international conferences and highlight the business benefits of inclusion. Social media and advocacy could further drive awareness.

“Elevate local champions, fund grassroots storytelling, and embed accessibility in how organizations measure social responsibility, align with global development priorities and make purchasing decisions,” Ruh said.

“It’s not just a tech issue — it’s about equity, innovation and human rights worldwide,” she said.

Show the World That Humans Matter

These innovators also need mentorship and training when scaling innovations within the African continent.

“We can provide technical expertise to help enhance product user experience, support packaging for scale as well as provide financing to help bring products to market,” Mbari-Kirika said.

There also must be mentorship and training, according to Santos. “Create disability-focused incubators and foster international partnerships to scale innovations.”

Milliken pointed out that programs designed to support entrepreneurship must also be accessible.

“We also need to find more dedicated early stage funding as many young disabled people won’t ever get through the door of a startup accelerator, preventing them from even getting to that starting line,” he said.

“We’ve been supporting scaling solutions with the Zero Project, but much more needs to be done to create an innovation and funding ecosystem,” Milliken said.

Concentrate on Experience

Ruh envisions inclusion in local startup ecosystems and partnerships with universities, incubators, and working directly with those most affected by accessibility issues — ensuring that solutions are grounded in lived experience and reflect real community needs.

“Let young African entrepreneurs with disabilities lead — just give them the tools,” she said.

International partnerships play a large role in advancing accessibility.

“They can share knowledge and best practices,” Mbari-Kirika said. “Some countries have decades of experience in accessibility.

“There is an opportunity for African countries to learn, adopt existing innovations and leapfrog with new innovations,” she said. “Plus, partnerships can ensure global accessibility policies extend to the African markets.”

Santos added that international partnerships bring expertise, funding, shared practices, co-creation, cultural understanding, capacity building and long-term solutions.

Empower Vision Through Innovation

“International partnerships are very useful in helping to scale,” Milliken said. “Let’s remember Africa is not homogenous, so projects can be international within the continent.

“Funding from outside partners is useful, of course, but we always need to keep in mind the local context and work with the community,” he said.

Those outside the region must also understand their role within each culture.

“International partnerships should amplify local leadership, not replace it,” Ruh said. “The best ones offer funding, tech and policy support — while listening first. True impact comes from collaborating, not dictating.”

Of utmost importance, those wanting to assist must address the unique accessibility challenges faced by different linguistic and cultural groups.

“Africa is a diverse continent, and every country is unique,” Mbari-Kirika said. “By ensuring representation of different linguistic groups throughout the design process, we can create inclusive solutions that reflect diverse needs, languages and cultural contexts.”

Create Jointly

Santos emphasizes developing assistive tech and content in local languages, ensuring cultural relevance. Engage communities and co-create solutions with local disability organizations.

“Some African languages such as Swahili are spoken by very large numbers of people,” Milliken said. “They make a good case for language model development that powers assistive tech like text-to-speech and speech recognition.”

There is also the increasing influence of artificial intelligence in the disability community, along with everywhere else.

“AI-powered systems are now speeding up creation of models for less common languages and dialects,” Milliken said.

Now is the time to implement strategies that improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

“We need to ensure that skills development initiatives are accessible,” Milliken said. “Then people with disabilities in Africa will have the same opportunities to join the digital economy as their non-disabled peers.”

Simple Thoughtful Steps Open the Door to People

Santos keyed on inclusive hiring, workplace accommodations and skills development.

“Incentivize businesses to hire people with disabilities and support disability-led entrepreneurship,” he said.

Give special attention to classroom instruction that improves the quality of the workforce.

“Expand educational and vocational training opportunities for persons with disabilities,” Mbari-Kirika said. “Employers, governments and educational institutions must collaborate to reduce the skills gap and ensure inclusive hiring practices.”

Accessibility isn’t just about technology — it’s about trust, equity and shared vision. As young Africans with disabilities claim their place in the digital world, true progress depends on inclusion at every level.

When local voices lead and global partners listen, the future becomes not only more connected — but more just.