Reflecting on the significance of Africa Day, we have accomplished much in terms of colonial liberation, but much work remains to be done in achieving liberation from persistent challenges such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment that continue to plague the African continent.

I am fortunate to work in the dynamic and vibrant technology space, supporting a wide range of businesses in various industries, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the African continent.

A common realisation in my travels and interactions with business leaders has been the enormous opportunities that the African continent possesses.

According to the , Africa has a population of 1.1 billion people, which is roughly equal to the combined populations of Europe and North America.

A resource-rich continent of youthful potential

Africa鈥檚 youthful population is expected to grow to 1.4 billion by the year 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050. Roughly 70% of Africans are under the age of 30, compared to Europe where populations are aging and declining. This young population offers enormous opportunities for economic growth and innovation, but only if they are seized.

Other valuable resources are also waiting to be unlocked

data indicates that Africa has 30% of the world鈥檚 mineral resources and 65% of the planet鈥檚 arable agricultural land. South Africa, for example, holds听90%听of the world鈥檚 , while Nigeria and Libya are among the top ten countries with the largest oil reserves.

Africa also has the largest cobalt reserves, with the Democratic Republic of Congo accounting for more than two-thirds of global supplies. As the world transitions to green energy sources, cobalt has become a strategic resource, particularly in the automotive and power generation industries.

In certain types of innovation, Africa also leads the world

According to a into mobile payment banking, Kenya and Ghana have the second and third highest mobile payment usage after China, demonstrating Africa鈥檚 enormous potential. Mobile transactions account for 87% of Kenya鈥檚 GDP and 82% in听Ghana.

To put this in context, the African mobile payment market could have 850 million customers by 2025, which is 100 million more than Europe鈥檚 total population.

The big question is why, despite a large young population and mineral resource wealth, does Africa continue to trail the rest of the world in its development?

Tech-enabled SMEs could power the continent鈥檚 growth

One of the solutions to driving Africa鈥檚 economic development could lie in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. SMEs have the potential to support development by creating jobs and driving economic growth. The burning question is: why are African SMEs so slow to adopt and leverage technology?

African businesses 鈥� and SMEs in particular 鈥� face significant challenges that include lack of access to capital, specialised skills, raw materials, and markets. A lack of adoption of new technologies is causing several issues for Africa鈥檚 SME sector, ranging from poor planning, a lack of forecasting capability, and lack of capacity to leverage the efficiency gains of artificial intelligence and machine learning. These issues must be addressed if we are to unleash the next generation of African business success stories.

Although technology is not the only answer to the question of building world-class competitive African businesses, it is one of the most accessible solutions to many of the challenges that businesses face. Returning to the mobile payment banking example, this innovation was the result of a clever use听of technology to address a fundamental challenge in both Kenya and Ghana: a lack of banking infrastructure.

Digital supply chains and business network solutions could unlock access to new markets for raw materials or finished products. Innovative use of technology 鈥� like what we鈥檝e seen with mobile banking 鈥� could solve immediate challenges stunting SMEs鈥� growth and unlock a new wave of innovation across the continent.

Even though Africa continues to face numerous and complex challenges, there is no denying that the continent is brimming with possibilities. The time is now for African businesses to leverage technology as a strategic resource to fuel innovation and growth.

听Dumisani Moyo is the Marketing Director at听51风流Africa. He is an avid scholar in technology, leadership, diversity, and sustainability. Dumi has extensive experience in technology and a Master of Philosophy Degree in Business Management with a specialization in Responsible Leadership.

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My big 4-0 is a story for another day; for now, I would like to share my experiences as a SAP鈥檌an over the last two years.

Personally, my birthday month is a time of deep reflection; however, this year鈥檚 reflections were unprecedented. My time at 51风流was a recurring theme in my thoughts, particularly the people. Having had the honour of working with such incredible individuals naturally made them a prominent feature of my reflections. Despite spending 22 of my 24 months with 51风流alone at home, I never felt isolated because there was always someone checking in on me. Through their unwavering efforts to make me feel welcomed and supported, I came to understand and appreciate the true meaning of the 51风流family.

When I consider my journey as a SAP’ian, a few things stand out and fill me with pride.

First and foremost, my work has been both challenging and fulfilling, and I see a strong connection between my contributions and SAP’s mission. 鈥淗elping the world run better鈥� is not just a catchphrase, we live it. Our mission to create a prosperous and equitable future for all resonates strongly with me. Our vision to improve people’s lives, transform industries, grow economies, and preserve the environment for future generations is a reality.

Second, there is a strong sense of community among us. When times are good, we win together, and when times are tough, we stick together. During the pandemic, when some companies cut salaries and laid off employees, SAP’s commitment to employee well-being was all the proof I needed to know that I had made the right decision by joining SAP.

Third, 51风流prioritizes fairness. Although we strive for excellence, our leaders are fair in their approach and reasonable in their expectations, both globally and locally here in Africa. They practice what they preach and hold themselves to the same standards as everyone else in the organization.

Finally, no challenge is too big or insurmountable for us; we always “maak ‘n plan” (make a plan). We have a strong culture of service and helping one another; I have never asked for assistance and received a negative response. We understand that, at the end of the day, no matter what your role is, all our efforts are in service of our customers.

Looking ahead to this year, I am excited to collaborate with my fellow SAP’ians in the Africa Market Unit and beyond, as we strive for excellence in our quest to help the world run听better. What sets us apart is our ability to collaborate and work together with purpose to achieve common goals. Our secret recipe is our commitment and trust in one another, as well as our desire for continuous creativity and excellence. I am excited to see what the future holds for all of us.

51风流is undoubtedly a special place; my blood is blue, and I am a proud SAP鈥檌an.

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Technology has had a significant impact on people’s lives worldwide. In the African context, where poverty, unemployment, and inequality continue to be persistent challenges, technology has the potential to significantly improve the lives of Africans by enabling the creation of financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable companies. At the recent hosted by the African Development Bank, African countries were urged to prioritize the development of circular value chains to address some of these perennial challenges by accelerating industrialization and job creation.

Our 51风流Africa Managing Director, Cathy Smith, articulated the role of technology in Africa’s development. 鈥淎t 51风流we believe in the power of technology for good 鈥� to create a more prosperous and equal future for all. By developing digital skills to increase employability, by transforming industries and education systems, by providing access to quality healthcare, we can uplift societies and economies. Through our end-to-end technology solutions, we bring our vision of making the world run better听and improving peoples鈥� lives to the fore. We believe that technology has the potential to transform industries, uplift communities, grow听economies and preserve the environment鈥�.

Technology has the potential to play a critical role in the development of circular economies in Africa, particularly in the development of efficient supply chains as well as the adoption of sustainable production methods that prioritize sustainable business practices, covering all aspects of the triple bottom line 鈥� financial, social and environmental sustainability.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) coined the term 鈥溾�� to describe the mindset of companies that use technology to gain a competitive advantage. It is worth noting that these companies incorporate technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Advanced Analytics, into their processes and operations to enable profitable solutions that also prioritize environmental, social, and governance objectives. These companies use technology as a key differentiator to overcome constraints and unlock new opportunities.

While the formal business sector in Africa is dominated by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the adoption, application, and leveraging of technology in business is typically limited to large companies with financial and human resource muscle. This emphasizes the importance of ensuring that SMEs can follow in the footsteps of their larger siblings and reap the many benefits of technology. This is especially important because SMEs employ the majority of Africa’s workforce and are critical to accelerating the continent’s industrialization and job creation.

The days of costly and time-consuming implementations are over. Technology solutions such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Supplier and Customer Experience Management, Digital Supply Chain, and Human Resources Management, to name a few, are now available on the cloud. This significantly reduces the time required for technology implementation, adoption, and actual value realization.

The cloud has eliminated the need for large capital investments in infrastructure to run these solutions, allowing smaller companies to direct scarce financial resources into their core businesses rather than costly infrastructure. The cloud also enables smaller companies to scale up or scale down these solutions as their operations and companies grow.

51风流will be hosting the Business Transformation Tour. The main event will take place on April 5^th, and companies of all sizes will be able to learn how to use technology to drive business transformation. In addition, between March and June, we will host a series of eleven industry events spanning manufacturing, government, retail, financial services, mining, and many more.

Please use this to register and learn more about how some of our customers in different industries are leveraging our solutions to drive sustainable听business transformation.

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In the highly competitive retail sector, where consumers place a premium on convenience in their shopping experiences, the pervasiveness of technology has influenced a shift in customer expectations.

To remain relevant in a rapidly changing market, retailers must be agile and adaptable.

A听听on how the pandemic has affected retail consumer sentiment in South Africa found that the 鈥淐OVID-19 crisis has fast-tracked the urgency for digital transformation in retail, highlighting the need to operate and serve customers differently鈥�.

According to the same report, while digital transformation has been important to all sectors, retailers in particular need to find new ways to serve customers in order to remain relevant and competitive.

By leveraging technology, retailers can develop dynamic capabilities that are critical to gaining long-term competitive advantage.

For retailers to differentiate themselves, respond to changing customer needs, and prioritise innovation and agility across the entire value chain, digital transformation must be integrated into business strategy.

, since COVID, Sainsbury Supermarkets in the UK reported that their in-store shopping app accounted for up to 50% of purchases in some stores and 37% of total sales across all of their stores in Q2 2020/21.

Customers can use this app to scan their purchases with their smartphones, skipping the queues and paying instantly at smart check-out points.

According to the same report, Tesco, UK鈥檚 largest retailer, plans to open check-out-free stores, where customers will be able to scan items as they shop and be automatically charged for their purchase when they leave the store, eliminating the need for check-out points completely.

Finally, with innovations such as in-store facial recognition payments, Alibaba鈥檚 Freshippo stores in China have taken check-out-free shopping to new heights.

Freshippo describes its future vision as never transitioning from physical to digital, but rather seamlessly integrating online and offline, a concept they call 鈥減hygital鈥� retail experience.

How can digital transformation help African retailers achieve long-term sustainable success? Four key focus areas in particular bear investigation, namely:

Focus Area 1: Customer Centricity

Putting the customer first requires retailers to comprehensively understand the customer buying journey, their perceptions and expectations.

Understanding these factors intimately is critical to ensuring a positive customer experience (CX), which can be a significant differentiator in difficult times, such as those caused by the pandemic.

It is important that retailers view customer centricity as a long-term strategic imperative that enables them to better react to changing customer sentiment and demands.

For example, technology enables retailers to tailor their offerings to customer preferences with enhanced precision.

The ability to leverage technology to continuously collect information that enables retailers to understand customer needs as well as measure customer sentiment is paramount.

For example, a听听into the retail sector found that pricing and affordability became major drivers of negative sentiment during the early stages of the lockdowns. Therefore technology plays a critical role in enabling retailers to effectively manage CX, through tailoring their offerings, promotions and loyalty programs to customer needs.

Focus Area 2: Go-to-Market Channels

A听听found that the use of mobile technologies will influence future customer needs, especially, as customers are increasingly using mobile devices to research their potential purchases.

For example, before making a high-value purchase, consumers could use their mobile phone to research details such as specifications or attributes, as well as compare different offerings from different retailers.

This means many consumers make their purchasing decision before leaving the house, and only go to a physical store to pay and pick up their predetermined purchase.

Retailers that have poor websites that are not mobile friendly could lose a significant portion of their customer base and their potential purchases as a result. It is therefore crucial that part of the retailer鈥檚 strategy addresses mobile as a critical go-to-market channel.

Focus Areas 3: Digital Supply Chain

Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about environmental degradation, animal rights and other matters of sustainability.

As a result, in addition to pricing and stock availability, consumers want to know where and how the products they consume and use are sourced, produced, and manufactured.

These rapidly changing consumer trends further complicate an already complex retail supply chain and category management landscape. The use of intelligent technologies could hold the key to simplifying supply chain management.

Real-time software applications for procurement, sales and operations planning, logistics, and inventory management are no longer considered a luxury.

Recent disruptions in South African supply chains due to protest action, for example, highlighted the importance of having an intelligent and integrated supply chain management system, as retailers scrambled to keep their stores open across the country after damage to some of their distribution centres.

Focus Area 4: Emerging Business Models

As the adoption of mobile devices, primarily smartphones and tablets, as well as access to the internet continue to accelerate in Africa, new retail technologies are expected to influence how retailers sell and how consumers purchase goods.

Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality are poised to shape the retail landscape of the future.

The traditional brick-and-mortar business model will continue to exist in the retail sector; however, as online sales increase, retailers must seriously consider alternative channels or routes to market that use technology as an enabler.

For example, prior to the COVID lockdowns, most customers were satisfied with a next-day delivery service; however, with the implementation of the lockdowns, food retailers that could effect same-day delivery (or in some cases even within 60 minutes) were able to differentiate themselves and capture the lion鈥檚 share of the burgeoning online market. Today, despite the easing of lockdown restrictions, online grocery shopping continues to grow in popularity.

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