Davos in 2026 offered little comfort and that was precisely its value. The world many governments planned for is no longer the one they inhabit. This was the message delivered by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada. The liberal order that once promised predictability in trade, finance, and technology is fragmenting. Ignoring this shift may feel reassuring but It is also futile.This shift is not abstract. Its consequences are already shaping how regions like Africa must think about power and choice.

For Africa, this moment requires candour rather than optimism.

Power today is exercised less through rules and more through leverage. Trade access, technological standards, capital flows, and data regimes have become instruments of influence. The assumption that the old system will eventually right itself, or that its protections will apply evenly, no longer holds. Waiting for stability to return is not a strategy.This shift in how power is exercised exposes the cost of misreading the moment.

The greater risk for Africa is denial.

This is most evident in debates around technology and artificial intelligence. There is a temptation to delay engagement with AI until infrastructure gaps are closed and institutions perfected. That logic misunderstands how development now unfolds. Digital and physical systems are no longer sequential. They are cumulative. Countries that wait to build everything before participating will find that the frontier has already moved.But participation alone does not guarantee employment.

Progress comes from engagement, not postponement.

Yet another misconception deserving scrutiny. Technology does not, by itself, create jobs. Artificial intelligence can raise productivity, but employment follows demand, not code. Where markets are thin and purchasing power weak, technology remains detached from livelihoods. Africa’s youth employment challenge will not be solved by training alone. It will depend on whether policies expand the markets in which African firms operate and the customers they can realistically serve.

Nor is exclusion an inherent feature of technology. It is a consequence of governance. Who sets standards, who designs systems, and who participates early determines outcomes. When African voices shape technologies at inception, rather than adapting to them later, the results are demonstrably different.

Davos also made clear that Africa is not isolated in confronting these dilemmas. From Nigeria House to Saudi House, and across discussions on women and artificial intelligence, there was a shared recognition that the next phase of technological growth must be intentional and grounded in local realities. The era of neutral technology is over. Choices now matter more than ever.

INCLUDE’s task is to translate these global shifts into practical guidance for African policy makers and partners. That means prioritising realism over reassurance and strategy over hope.

The world has changed. Pretending otherwise will not shield anyone from its consequences.

A framework for acting now

If denial is the risk, action must be disciplined rather than reactive. A useful starting point rests on four principles as reflected on by the INCLUDE team.

Name reality

Just as Prime Minister Carney emphasized,Africa must accept that the old global order no longer functions as promised. Policy must be designed for volatility, not for a stability that is unlikely to return.

Build while learning

Africa must not wait for perfect infrastructure. Develop digital systems, skills, and governance in parallel with physical investment.

Grow markets, not just skills

Employment follows demand. Expanding local and regional markets, and the purchasing power within them, is essential if technology is to translate into jobs for young Africans.

Design for inclusion from the start

Inclusion cannot be retrofitted. African participation in the design of technology, regulation, and standards must occur early, before exclusion hardens.

Africa retains agency in shaping what comes next. But that agency depends on confronting reality as it is, not as one might wish it to be. At INCLUDE, the choice is to engage early, think strategically, and act without illusion.