As the only region in Africa to avoid a recession in 2020, East Africa is poised for strong growth despite ongoing disruption from the pandemic.

While the exact level of threat posed by the newly-discovered Omicron variant of COVID-19 remains to be seen, the reaction from the global community – travel restrictions, potential lockdowns – could have a severe impact on the region’s economic fortunes.

For organisations and business leaders in the region, the emergence of new unknowns and potential disruptions should not distract from the urgent task of recovery following an immensely difficult near-two year period.

In particular, four key priorities could enable businesses to accelerate their recovery and achieve greater resilience against future disruptions:

Priority One: Digitise with haste

The past two years have marked a radical shift in consumer behaviour. In Kenya, for example, mobile money transfers grew by nearly 63% in 2020 . Service such as banking has seen accelerated digitisation, ecommerce adoption is growing, and hybrid work models mean most organisations have had to implement new tools to support employees working from home.

For smaller businesses, the impact of the pandemic has been disastrous. A survey undertaken between June and August 2020 found that . Ninety percent had experienced a fall in sales, and one in five workers in the sector had lost their jobs.

In Kenya, however, SMEs increased their use of digital technology to work around pandemic restrictions. Nearly half of SMEs in the country increased their use of digital platforms, while 13% are investing in digital technologies.

In its most recent East Africa Economic Outlook, the African Development Bank advises that the region should, among other measures, ‘‘.

Effective utilisation of cloud technologies, for example, could enable small and larger enterprises to test new digital channels and business processes that can then be quickly scaled to serve existing customers or reach new ones.

Priority Two: Build back better (and more sustainably)

In the early days of 2020, when countries implemented strict lockdowns and economic activity tapered off, global emissions dropped and, for a moment at least, it seemed as if the pandemic would be a catalyst for sustainability.

However, data indicates that . The recently concluded COP26 failed to inspire hope that major greenhouse gas emitters would suddenly change course and adopt more sustainable practices.

The changing climate will have a dire impact on East Africa. Recent data indicates that . More heatwaves and cyclones are expected to impact agricultural activities, while potentially driving vast locust swarms to the region, where they cause untold devastation to farmers.

Considering the importance of agriculture to the region’s economic prospects, it is essential that all efforts at economic recovery take into account the potential impact on the climate.

As another of the region’s most important industries, the manufacturing sector – – presents a golden opportunity for the region’s innovators to design more sustainable processes.

By ensuring sustainability is embedded in every manufacturing process, East Africa could achieve economic growth while limiting the severity of the climate impact on future generations.

Priority Three: Eliminate uncertainty

Even before the emergence of COVID-19, the world faced unprecedented uncertainty. The continued disruption caused by new digital technologies, the accelerating pace of modern life and a rapidly shifting global political landscape combined to create an environment where change was truly the only constant.

This situation is likely to continue and even become exacerbated by the pandemic, but organisations and decision-makers are not powerless. Organisations that can use data and analytics to gain a real-time, granular view over every aspect of the business can eliminate some uncertainty and improve the accuracy and quality of their decisions.

As the nerve centre of the modern intelligent enterprise, ERP solutions bring a level of clarity and control to decision-makers that is essential to effective leadership.

Integrating emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning unlocks further benefits, especially in terms of optimising business processes. Worryingly, , with Kenya ranked highest in a recent global study at 105 out of 158 countries.

As organisations design their post-pandemic business strategies, all efforts must be made to leverage technology as a tool to reduce uncertainty while unlocking opportunities for new gains in efficiency, accuracy and identifying entirely new business models.

Priority Four: Collaborate & innovate

Africa is no stranger to innovation. found that 13% of all new or modified technology that has been developed in response to the pandemic originated in Africa.

Driving innovation through the effective use of new technologies holds the promise of improving service delivery and boosting productivity. As countries and industries across the region rebuild, understanding the role technology plays in driving innovation is essential.

The region’s outstanding track record in the mobile payments space should serve as inspiration.

Millions of East Africans that were previously excluded from formal banking or credit services today use mobile money services to secure lending opportunities, repay loans and build transaction histories that can unlock access to other formal financial services. Entire ecosystems of products and services have emerged to deliver additional value to mobile money users.

Today, the region is in mobile peer-to-peer finance.

Other areas of innovation include the region’s use of technology to improve agricultural outcomes, for example through the use of SAP’s Rural Sourcing Manager, which gives smallholder farmers weather and market data, improved selling opportunities, and access to new markets.

Using the levers of regional and intra-African cooperation – through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, or East Africa Community – could further accelerate the pace at which new innovations spread from one country or region to the rest of the continent.

Through ongoing collaboration among African nations, the region and continent could improve the speed at which it rebuilds its economy while unlocking a wealth of new opportunity.

The post Four Make-or-Break Priorities for East Africa’s Economic Recovery appeared first on 51·çÁ÷Africa News Center.

The pandemic has highlighted the glaring gap between the developed and developing world. Wealthy nations have been able to source and stockpile hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine, while many poorer countries, including those in Africa, are still in the planning and procurement stages.

Kenya requires 30 million vaccine doses , which is in line with . The country is expecting to receive 24 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine through the WHO’s COVAX facility, with 12 million more doses expected via bilateral agreements. Kenya will also receive additional doses via the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, although details around this are still vague.

While it’s hugely encouraging that more vaccines are becoming available and that Kenyan citizens could soon receive much-needed doses, immense challenges remain.

Supply chain constraints challenge vaccine rollout

The distribution and administration of vaccines at the scale of COVID-19 is a monumental challenge. There is much at stake because disruptions in the supply chain can prevent the delivery of the vaccine and negatively impact public trust.

Delays are paid for with human lives and push out the prospect of herd immunity. Reacting quickly to unexpected interruptions is key and is only possible if the entire supply chain, from procurement to production and delivery, is managed end-to-end.

According to the World Health Organisation’s , African countries have an overall score of only 33% preparedness for rolling out vaccines to their populations.

The challenge is compounded by the very specific conditions under which vaccines must be stored, transported and handled throughout the supply chain.

Pharmaceutical companies leverage technology

Thankfully, many of the leading pharmaceutical companies responsible for developing and producing COVID-19 vaccines have built extensive digital capabilities. Today, 18 of the world’s 20 major vaccine producers are already running their production on 51·çÁ÷solutions that cover their end-to-end processes, from manufacturing to controlled distribution to administration and post-vaccine monitoring.

For example,  is helping Moderna to comply with international legislation intended to prevent counterfeit drugs from reaching patients. The application provides a corporate serialisation repository, serial number management, and regulatory reporting capabilities.

German vaccine producer CureVac, whose COVID-19 vaccine is currently in testing, uses 51·çÁ÷to manufacture and distribute vaccines on a global scale.

In addition, the Vaccine Collaboration Hub (VCH), an extension to SAP’s business network, supports large-scale vaccination programs like what is needed for COVID-19. It covers the end-to-end process from manufacturing to controlled distribution to administration as well as post-vaccine monitoring.

The role of tech in Kenya’s vaccine efforts

Emerging, emerged and established technologies all have a role to play in Kenya’s current race to vaccinate its population. For example, trying to identify which people require vaccines with some attempt at prioritisation could leverage data, data mining, data science and patient segmentation based on various demographic, risk profiling and patient history information.

To track vaccine distribution across the country, a combination of technologies including blockchain, analytics, integrated scanners, location tracking tags and mobile apps could provide a framework to show relevant subsets of information to different supply chain stakeholders.

In terms of patient engagement, self-service appointment booking, customer experience platforms and patient feedback capture using apps and non-contact in-clinic kiosks can help to determine how well practitioners are fulfilling their duty. Similar platforms can be leveraged to focus on employee experience, offering insight into the mental wellbeing of frontline healthcare practitioners and reducing the risk of burnout.

Looking ahead, machine learning and streaming analytics could help identify irregular patterns in data that talk to issues within procurement, production, logistics or financial audits. IoT, 5G, LoRa (Long Range networks) and edge computing allows a vast array of use cases to be realised, where sensors can determine the conditions in which stock is being made, stored or shipped, and to allow critical response to be actioned before major incidents arise.

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unprecedented challenges to countries around the world, and Kenya is no exception. As the country readies itself for the vital process of vaccine distribution, it is critical that there are no unwarranted delays or disruptions. This will also give citizens the confidence that the medicines they are getting are safe and efficient. Technology can play a valuable supporting role to ensure Kenya’s vaccine rollout is a success.

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