Africa’s digital-first future locking out citizens with disabilities, expert warns

The rapid shift to digital-first government and financial services across Africa is locking out tens of millions of citizens living with disabilities, according to user experience (UX) expert, Mofe Oduntan.

Oduntan, who began his career building digital solutions for government agencies in Nigeria, said the continent is constructing its digital future on foundations that shut out the people who need public services most.

“Nigeria has pushed tens of millions of citizens through digital identity enrollment. Kenya’s eCitizen platform hosts thousands of government services. Mobile money has become the financial backbone of entire economies. Yet almost nobody is asking whether everyone can actually use these services. For a blind citizen opening a government portal with a screen reader, unlabeled buttons and unnamed form fields turn convenience into a locked door,” he said.

The World Health Organisation estimates that more than 80 million Africans live with a significant disability, including an estimated 25 to 35 million Nigerians. Drawing on his experience working within the American accessibility system, where a 2024 federal rule now compels public institutions to meet strict web accessibility standards, Oduntan said even decades of legislation have not solved the problem in the United States.

He noted that Nigeria’s Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act of 2019, though a landmark, contains no enforceable digital accessibility standards. But he said Africa holds an advantage the West never had. “America is spending billions untangling accessibility failures baked into legacy systems. Africa’s digital infrastructure is being built right now, and accessibility costs a fraction as much when it is designed in from the start,” he said.

He said the solution requires action on several fronts: “Governments should attach accessibility standards to every public digital procurement. Disability communities should be at the table when digital services are designed, because the people who face these barriers daily can identify them faster than any consultant. And startups, banks and telcos should treat accessibility as a market question, not a charity question. Tens of millions of users is not an edge case, it is a customer base.”

“The website is becoming the front door to civic life. Africa still gets to decide whether that door opens for all of its people. Doors are much harder to widen after the building is finished. Whether Africa takes it will determine if digital transformation becomes a story of inclusion or the quietest exclusion in our history.”