4 DATA USE CASE FOR VALUE CREATION Data deserts in many African countries reflect the digital divide, as many people do not have access to the services and systems used to generate the data that are needed to train algorithms or to analyse for decision-making. User-generated data sets, such as social media updates and call direct records (CDR), are a major part of the data revolution, provided they are collected in a responsible manner. These data sets can be combined and repurposed with other data such as anonymised citizen data to reflect the lived experiences of millions of individuals and provide valuable information about many different vulnerable communities that can inform policy making, enhance interventions, and spur economic activity across various use cases. For example, in Senegal, big data was used to map CDR, mobility, and economic activity. In Kenya, big data on M-Pesa mobile money transactions was used to create credit and savings products for subscribers and create credit profiles for small-holder farmers for input and harvest loans, a section of the economy that is typically not able to access formal banking facilities.2 2.1 VISION The Data Policy Framework envisions the transformative potential of data to empower African countries; improve people’s lives; safeguard collective interests; protect (digital) rights; and drive equitable socio-economic development. Practically the process seeks to translate this vision into a framework which will when implemented: empower Africans to exercise their rights through the promotion of trusted, safe and secure data systems integrated on the basis of common standards and practices; 2 create, coordinate and capacitate governance institutions to regulate, as necessary, the ever-changing data landscape and to increase the productive and innovative use of data to provide solutions and create new opportunities while mitigating risk; See https://www.developlocal.org/the-big-data-in-africa-report/ ensure that data can flow across borders as freely as possible while achieving an equitable distribution of benefits and addressing risks related to human rights and national security.