The current global conversation on technology focuses on, one, the big deals announced during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf; and two, the high-stakes rivalry between the US and China or their race to dominate artificial intelligence.
Yet this narrative overlooks a quieter set of evolving technology innovations and relationships: the surge and spread of low- and mid-tech innovation that is improving daily life across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The Global South now contributes around 40% of the world’s economic output and is projected to drive the bulk of future growth. Practical, scalable solutions to major public needs, from digital ID to financial inclusion and low-carbon energy supplies, are playing a part in this economic growth. They are also fostering unprecedented South-South cooperation and social inclusion.
In India, blending ethanol into petrol has already cut more than 40 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Across Africa, mobile money and SMS-based services are driving financial inclusion, while digital tools are modernizing fisheries and disease prevention.
Electricity-free cold storage for perishable goods and clean cooking fuel made from recycled plastic are among several novelties vying for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
Launched in 2016, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) accounts for nearly 80% of India’s digital payments, facilitating billions of instant transactions. Pix, the Brazilian equivalent, has 140 million users. The Atlantic Council, a think tank, calculates that one in every 11 adults globally uses either Pix or UPI to send or receive immediate payments.
Many of the investments that have paved the way to these innovations have involved partners in the Global North, an effort that has been diminished in recent months with the closure of USAID and broader challenges to development finance.
China also plays a key role, with a reported three out of every four dollars that the country invests going to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, covering both physical and digital infrastructure.
Yet the investment landscape is shifting. The United Arab Emirates’ Masdar nearly doubled its renewable energy capacity between 2020 and 2022, signing deals across Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Tanzania.
The UAE’s US$110 billion investment in Africa from 2019 to 2023 outpaced China, the UK, and France, and channeled $72 billion into renewable energy alone. By the end of 2024, it became the largest investor in new African business projects.
US tariffs, marked by $450 billion in reciprocal tariffs and tech restrictions, are expected to hit countries in the Global South hard—from 48% for Laos to 49% for Cambodia, and dizzying figures assigned to South East Asian solar panel producers.
Yet it could inadvertently help to drive this surge in new technological collaborations across the Global South by reshaping supply chains, fostering economic realignment and incentivizing regional partnerships.
India, for example, has assisted Zambia in converting cotton by-products into low-carbon energy focusing on accessible, low-tech solutions that create jobs for rural communities.
Several African countries have cooperated to build disaster risk management frameworks, drawing on local knowledge and often using low-tech methods such as community-based early warning systems. These “frugal innovation” projects address real-world problems in typically underserved markets and could encourage inclusive growth.
Tech cooperation in the Global South is not just about capital flow; it opens up models for how countries can incubate and export homegrown technologies that help to address challenges shared across borders.
Regional alliances like ASEAN’s Digital Masterplan 2025 and Africa’s AfCFTA, are gaining pace, prioritizing shared tech standards and digital infrastructure on which practical innovations can be built.
To further such collaboration, policymakers and business executives must pay attention to both technology and governance. On the technology level, the path forward lies in layered innovation strategies—combining scalable low-tech, high-impact innovations with areas of competitive advantage in more advanced technologies.
Aadhar, of which other countries are evaluating adoption, is based on relatively “low tech”, but has now integrated an AI layer to speed up state-citizen interactions.
Infosys chairman and co-founder Nandan Nilekani has argued that India should focus on becoming a global “use case capital” for AI, eschewing a focus on foundation models. This approach would enable India’s innovators to design practical solutions that both meet domestic needs and are exportable to countries facing similar challenges.
On the level of policy cooperation, diversification should be strategic, avoiding the risk of getting lost in an overabundance of alliances.
As bilateral technology agreements and tech minilaterals proliferate in the Global South, the skill of forum selection, coordination and participation could become increasingly critical. They should pay attention to the guardrails needed to ensure that digital infrastructure and technologies serve the public good.
Minilateral groups in the Global South focused on technology trade and governance may be singularly well-placed to support cooperation on specific international challenges, from low-tech solutions to boost food security to disrupting terrorist financing to supporting communities on the frontlines of climate change through simple mobile communications strategies. Objectives should be clearly set.
Public-purpose innovation, channeled through cooperative blocs, holds the potential to support economic growth and serve local communities. It could also boost the geopolitical influence of the Global South through positioning its countries as adept at tackling challenges at the fore of global shifts.
Dr Tanya Filer is founder and CEO of StateUp and established the Digital State program at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge.
Dr N Janardhan is director of research, Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, Abu Dhabi.
