Digital Nomadism On The Rise As Footloose Head To Africa

In 2014, digital nomad Ben Jones was at a Bitcoin meet-up in Berlin when someone invited him to become a technology fellow in Ghana. Days later, he was on a plane to Accra, joining the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology MEST, a programme designed to equip Africa's brightest young graduates with the skills to build startups.

At the time, incubators like this were rare on the continent. The ecosystem was young, investors were hesitant, and few global tech companies were paying attention. But over the past decade, Africa's digital economy has surged, driven by rapid urbanisation, mobile connectivity, and a new generation of entrepreneurs tackling real-world problems with technology.

"In the UK, you'll see startups working on things like pharmacy delivery apps - useful, sure, but not exactly revolutionary. But in Africa? The scale of impact is huge. It's banking the unbanked, building financial infrastructure from scratch, leapfrogging entire stages of development," says Jones.

That first trip to Ghana turned into a long-term engagement with Africa's tech scene. As remote work and digital nomadism have become mainstream, a growing number of global professionals are following a similar path, drawn by the continent's opportunities, affordability, and thriving tech hubs.

"I want to make the whole world my office - whether I'm in Myanmar, Cape Town, or Iceland," says Jones. "But what does change - especially in Africa - is the energy, the hustle. Because so much of the continent is still developing, everyone is hungry."