Digitalization is one of the most transformative opportunities of our time and a potent tool to eradicate poverty on a livable planet. Right before our eyes, digital technologies are constantly evolving, changing societies and our everyday lives. The rapid speed of new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) is also changing digital capabilities for many countries, although not all. While digitalization presents immense opportunities for job creation, poverty reduction, and improved service delivery, the Eastern and Southern Africa region has the slowest pace of digitalization globally, with only 64% of the population covered by high-speed internet, and just 24% of the population using the internet (as of 2023). We need to change this course. Without access to the internet and digital literacy, hundreds of millions of Africans, including young Africans, will continue to be left behind. This is significant, especially as the continent will have the youngest and fastest-growing working-age population in the world by 2050. It is also estimated that there will be 230 million digital jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.