COVID-19 Archives - 51��Africa News Center

Five Technology Priorities for Enhancing the African Healthcare Sector

Bonisiwe Tshabalala, Senior Industry & Value Advisor at 51��Africa — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 07:48:18 +0000

What actions can African countries, healthcare providers and healthcare organisations take to improve the provision of health services to the continent’s 1.4 billion citizens?

Africa faces the dual challenge of poor healthcare systems and a high burden of disease, especially among poorer communities. According to a McKinsey report, . Ninety-four percent of all malaria deaths occur in Africa, and tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS is widespread.

Additional pressures from disease outbreaks, such as the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone in 2014, often lead to further disruptions to healthcare provision, leaving the most vulnerable without the medical assistance they need. In fact, , and when health services are available, they are often of poor quality.

And following the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health systems across the continent, time has arguably arrived to radically rethink the delivery of health services to African citizens.

Digitalisation unlocking opportunities for improved care

One of the most transformative developments in healthcare in recent times is the growing adoption of data and analytics tools to drive improvements across the healthcare value chain.

Demand for targeted analysis of patient data is expected to expand over the coming years as patients increasingly seek transparent access to their healthcare data. In addition, healthcare providers will gather data on patient experiences to continuously improve the delivery of care and other patient-related processes.

For providers, the aim should be to deliver quality accessible healthcare services to anyone regardless of their location or social conditions. Such care should extend beyond patient discharge, with providers using mobile devices and applications to enhance the patient experience and ensure the highest levels of care throughout the healthcare journey.

The rapid digitalisation of the healthcare industry could see value-based care – which improves patient outcomes while driving down costs – dominate the sector by as early as 2025.

Five priority areas & tech’s role

However, to achieve value-based care providers will need to build intelligent enterprise capabilities that enable end-to-end, data-driven healthcare processes focused on enhancing patient outcomes. And doing so will depend on how well providers can leverage technology across five priority areas, namely:

Priority 1 – Operating smartly and efficiently

Healthcare providers are under constant pressure over costs and resource constraints. By removing unnecessary costs, reducing waste and freeing up resources for innovation, providers can deliver better care to patients.

In the coming years, providers will leverage IoT and machine learning for greater automation, with embedded analytics allowing for more agile prediction and simulation capabilities. The use of standardisation using global best practices may also reduce variations in clinical care.

The improved use of analytics and automation can increase accuracy between front-end and back-end processes, reduce revenue leakage by limiting insurance claim denials, and streamline insurance claims to enable faster reimbursement.

Priority 2 – Subscribing to patient outcomes

One of the biggest challenges facing healthcare providers is how to provide services that deliver optimised outcomes for each individual patient. In the near future, patients will be able to see what value each treatment option has based on key performance indicators and assessments of other patients facing similar circumstances.

Self-management options may allow patients to take more informed decisions over their treatment, based on accurate data about other individual patients and their specific context.

This will improve the patient experience and support compliance by ensuring patients know what procedures to follow and documentation to bring to a visit. Reimbursement delays can also be reduced through more accurate data submitted by the patient.

Priority 3 – Enabling data-driven decisions

The shift from mainly experience-based healthcare to delivering care based on real-world evidence will be a top priority for healthcare providers over the coming years. Big data generated by electronic medical records ,apps, wearables, mobile devices, sensors and clinical innovation will create vast amounts of information.

Over the coming years, providers will increasingly gain the ability to monitor patients, collect health information from structured and unstructured sources, and use data analysis to understand and even predict health conditions in real time. Applying AI, analytics and machine learning can further unlock valuable data points that can enable insight-driven healthcare delivery.

This will improve the quality of patient care through real-time access to a broad range of medical, lifestyle and personal experience data, while also reducing overall IT spend by enabling data visualisation across the entire healthcare organisations using a single platform.

Priority 4 – Empowering healthcare workers

The immense pressure under which healthcare professionals work makes it critical that providers find ways to restructure and empower their workforce to allow them to work at their best. The key is to avoid complexity, which drives up costs and slows down progress.

Digital tools can enable healthcare workers to reduce paperwork and free time up to focus on patient care. Mobile devices can improve the speed of communication to enable just-in-time delivery of critical information and results, driving greater flexibility in their work environment.

By adopting a single platform for talent management, learning management and data insights, healthcare organisations can drive improvements across their human capital management functions, from planning, onboarding and recruitment to payroll, expense management and ongoing training and development.

Priority 5 – Improving the patient experience

Healthcare delivery is shifting as patients move away from being passive recipients of health services to active, empowered consumers. Delivering a positive and seamless patient experience across digital and physical interactions will provide a key point of differentiation for modern healthcare providers.

Technology will play a central role, specifically technologies that have been designed with an understanding of patients as the main users of the solutions. This will improve patient-provider interactions and drive greater convenience for patients across their healthcare experience.

This will increase patient satisfaction by ensuring patients are involved in the decision-making process and more aware of the treatment and resulting outcomes. By giving patients ownership over different parts of the treatment journey, providers will also improve care efficiency and improve patient outcomes.

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Identify Your Suckers and Feed Your Fuelers

Estelle de Beer — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 07:08:36 +0000

I have never been more at peace, more productive or worked harder than right now. It’s such a weird realization, after chasing that elusive work-life-balance unicorn for over twenty-five years!

Raising two kids while working 8–10-hour days and commuting for another two hours, makes a mockery of this work-life-balance vision that we are sold as “this is what success looks like” all our lives. Yet, we are bombarded with this vision of achievement throughout our careers. What a great sales job – to get you to work harder and harder, fueled by feeling less successful and closer to failure along the way.

Then Covid smacked us like an oncoming speed train and derailed everything we thought we had under control. My flawed perspective of balance was placed center stage. The dictionary tells us that balance is “an even distribution of weight… in which different elements are equal or in correct proportions”.

After the initial weeks of shock and chaos that accompanied the hard lockdown, it soon become clear that managing endless remote calls stuck to a chair in your kitchen while trying to manage your household, only brought anxiety, exhaustion, and a complete sense of desperation for the familiarity of what you’d lost. In that dark moment it dawns on you that you didn’t lose greatness, you only lost a familiar routine. The way out was to find new emotional tools and to make selfish choices about “what��I��need”. Being a woman (and a mother) in the male dominated world of technology where you must work harder, prove your competence, fight for your voice to be heard – it’s hard to make these selfish choices. Your DNA is programmed to make sacrifices, see the bigger picture, and look after others.

This period forced me – and helped me – to re-think what I really need to fuel MY batteries, give ME energy, move ME forward. It also allowed me to recognize the things and people that drain me, that suck my energy and oxygen dry. A good place to start is to ask for feedback from trusted people, at work and at home – where do they see you shine, see you disappear, see you behave without intent and focus, see you not stepping up, see you not giving up. A picture emerges that I call my “Fuelers” and my” Suckers”. This realization is a growth journey in itself.

“Embracing chaos might be the journey you have to take to finding peace.”

That’s the easy part. The hard part is to��do��something about it, to make some life changes – lasting changes. To re-establish your energy balance, not work-life-balance, you instinctively want to remove things from the “heavy side” of the imbalance. I found this to be ineffective and a new sucker. I shifted my focus to the other side – to add things to my “lighter” side, my fuelers. Being in hard lockdown with your partner, or family, for 24-hours a day makes this an interesting experiment which presents many challenges, but mostly wonderful opportunities for change. “Small steps, consistently,” became something we tackled both jointly and individually. It started with something very simple – boardgames. Immersing yourself in something completely unknown, with new rules and structures became a wonderful outlet for our competitive natures. We acquired new skills, lost track of time, engaged in a physical challenge, improved our strategic thinking to outsmart each other and ended up having a lot of fun! This became the start of our weekend routine and soon we collected and mastered at least ten of the top global board games. My “lighter” side started filling up, with ease. The key is not simply adding new things but maintaining consistency in what you add. I kept adding new, deliberate activities, which became new habits, which became new life choices. For me, the real achievement of balance is about the energy being in balance, not the separation of work and “life”.

The interesting thing about feeding your fuelers is that you don’t have to remove all the suckers. I still have days filled with nine back-to-back meetings, hard conversations, difficult people and situations to deal with. With a consistent library of fuelers to use, I have more perspective to approach these challenges with a calm clarity, leaving me with a feeling of control and inner peace, and less guilt about not living up to others’ expectations and demands.

Embracing chaos might be the journey you have to take to finding peace.

The dictionary tells us that balance is “an even distribution of weight… in which different elements are equal or in correct proportions”. Don’t make the wrong assumptions of what these elements should be.

This article first appeared here:

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Advice on Navigating the New Normal

Delia Sieff, Head of Communications, 51��Africa — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 11:27:51 +0000

51��was the first company in South Africa to close its offices in early March 2020, when one of our employees had a close contact with “Patient number 4”. In those early days, the government was still numbering patients and we had barely reached double digits of known infections in the country. With around four million South Africans now reported to have had Covid over the last two years, it is surreal to look back on those days.

I remember clearly the anxiety of employees as we announced our office closure. Many felt daunted by the idea of working from home for a couple of weeks, even though we are a technology company and have long since had the tools and ability to work remotely. It was a mindset challenge. We were used to being in the office – the familiarity of our daily routines, the interaction with our customers and colleagues.

As it turns out, those few weeks turned into months and eventually a couple of years. While our offices opened over time to support those with significant productivity challenges, the uptake was low, and employees only started trickling back again this year. We are expected back at the office part time from July in a hybrid work model that 51��calls “Pledge to Flex”.

What is most surprising once again is the anxiety levels of employees at the thought of returning to the office. The things that scared them about leaving the office are now commonplace, and they are resistant to return to the things that used to be so familiar. I hear similar anecdotes from friends and colleagues in several industries. There are some key considerations to navigating what we now consider to be “the new normal”.

“The pandemic surfaced many human truths, most predominantly the fragility of life and our planet”.

Accept the new normal is not the old normal

Employers or managers who think we can simply cut and paste the world from 2019 and make it fit for purpose for the future are sadly mistaken. The pandemic had a major impact on all aspects of life, especially the notion of “workplace”. Many who struggled with the idea of working remotely, soon started to appreciate the positives – less time in traffic, reduced transport costs, less demanding business travel schedules, ability to juggle both work and personal responsibilities in a more dynamic manner. From the corner of the dining room table, more efficient home offices with high-speed internet and office equipment sprang up. Zoom and MS Teams became an integral part of every day. Children and pets made guest appearances. Suits, ties and heels were replaced by open collar shirts, track pants and often slippers. And while we complained about all the things we missed about the office; we unconsciously became very comfortable not being there. Of course, there is always a downside and that came in the form of an inability to “switch off” from work. A blurring between personal space and workspace led to unhealthy behaviours like business calls after-hours, late-night emailing, working through leave periods and ultimately stress and significantly increased mental health issues. It’s clear that a more balanced approach is required. There is absolute merit to being in an office environment, but the notion of 8-5, five days a week, no longer makes sense.

Choose the right things to hold on to

It’s important to remember the things we truly missed in the early days of remote working – the ability to grab a cup of coffee with a colleague and catch up on both work and personal news, the on-the-job learning and mentoring that happened organically, the frenetic energy of face-to-face brainstorms with everyone huddled over an actual whiteboard, the exhilaration of an important customer presentation in their boardroom. The reality is that email, spreadsheeting and conference calls can be done from anywhere, and may be done more efficiently in the quiet of your home office. But team building activities, strategy discussions, networking meetings and celebrations are simply not as interactive or fun online. We are social beings and tasks that require a high level of collaboration are easier and more gratifying in person. The new normal requires us to distinguish between tasks and choose the right environment for each. Forcing employees to sit in the office five days a week to complete menial tasks makes no sense. Create moments of meaning in the office and hold on to the things we first missed. Those are the very reason to go back, even if part time, in the new normal.

Remember that the customer is still king

Neither employers nor employees had a choice around remote working during the lockdowns. It was simply a necessity that we had to adapt to. However, employees who enjoyed significant flexibility for an extended period may now struggle the most with returning to the office, even part time. The truth is, working from home suits them, for all the reasons discussed earlier. But this is still a job and most of us don’t do it in isolation. There are at least three parties in the equation – employees, employers and customers. While you may be as happy as Larry in your slippers at home, there may be employees who need your support and mentorship in the office, managers who need to reestablish team bonds, and customers that need direct engagement. At the end of the day, our job is to support our customers’ needs and that requires a compromise. The new normal is about finding the right balance between what works for you, the business and the customer.

Embrace a return to humanity

The pandemic surfaced many human truths, most predominantly the fragility of life and our planet. It highlighted the inequality in our societies, whether those living in poverty or afflicted by discrimination such as gender-based violence. It amplified the need for different types of education systems, healthcare systems, welfare systems. It showed up the cracks in our traditional commercial and economic structures and the need for more economically inclusive societies. It heightened the sense of urgency for us to reduce the damage to the earth and to embrace a more sustainable and equitable way of living. To be successful in the new normal requires us to be more purposeful and embrace our connected humanity.

We are living in both turbulent and exciting times. The new normal creates an opportunity for us to hit the “reset” button and carry forward only what is useful and healthy for the future.

This article first appeared here: .

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Serving Vulnerable Communities Raises Stakes for Public Sector Digital Transformation

Sunil Geness, Director: Global Government Affairs & CSR at 51��Africa — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 08:51:27 +0000

The ongoing damaging impact of the pandemic combined with a growing number of climate-related emergencies is bringing into stark relief government’s ability to provide essential public services to vulnerable communities.

I recently visited the province of my birth, KwaZulu-Natal following the devastating floods. ��The desperation of the people and scale of the disaster has seen tens of thousands of displaced citizens turning to government to provide a broad range of relief measures, while damage to critical infrastructure including water supplies has prompted the President to declare a national state of disaster.

while damage to roads and schools have seen over 270 000 learners affected, in addition to 66 public healthcare facilities.

Coordinating the ongoing response will require close cooperation between multiple government and private sector entities as well as the active involvement of NGOs who play a vital role in supporting affected communities.

However, while the immediate task is to support those most vulnerable following the floods, there is a broader imperative to ensure public services are accessible and provide sufficient support to vulnerable communities across the country.

SA population has large share of vulnerable communities

Vulnerable groups include people living in poverty, those living with disabilities or dread disease, the elderly, youth and women, indigenous communities, rural and urban informal communities and displaced persons and migrants.

The pandemic has disproportionately affected vulnerable groups as they struggle with a variety of conditions and several barriers which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Ensuring essential public services are accessible and effective for vulnerable groups is a vital component of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially as it relates to SDG 16, which strives for just, peaceful, and inclusive societies that are supported by strong institutions.

A recent report by the Bureau for Economic Research has found South Africa is not making sufficient progress toward achieving its development objectives. For a country where the official unemployment rate is over 35%, and millions depend on social grants and other measures to survive, this lack of progress is putting citizens – and especially vulnerable communities – at risk.

Stakes higher for public sector digital transformation

Public sector entities are arguably under greater pressure to ensure digital transformation efforts are designed with vulnerable communities in mind. Those depending on social grants or public healthcare facilities need such services to be easily accessible, especially in underdeveloped areas such as informal settlements and rural towns and villages.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently called for a ‘new social contract’ as part of post-pandemic recovery, based on inclusivity and sustainability, and highlighted the need for governments to prioritise investment in digital literacy and digital infrastructure to build social cohesion.

Many governments have heeded the call and have made services available in the format of “digital by default”. However, this approach often excludes those who need the services most, for example older people and those in lower income groups who are not able to access online information and services as easily as those in the higher income groups generally.

Increasingly governments are deploying cutting-edge technology to deliver public services.�� The most effective approaches often rely on big data analytics and employ the latest technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, and blockchain to ensure effective outreach and provision of services.�� Consequently, the trend of adopting cutting-edge technologies in the government sector has intensified, which heralds an irreversible shift towards digital transformation. But these services may fail to improve the lives of citizens if there is a lack of trust between society and government.

Fostering trust between citizens and government

The most recent highlights increasing wariness of government and media. This is fuelling a cycle of distrust and demonstrates that government is not seen as able to solve societal problems.

The COVID pandemic and disasters like the KZN floods have highlighted the need for agile government. However, a recent study found that nearly one in ten South Africans consider corruption as the biggest problem that government needs to address.

Reports of mishandled relief funds during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic has sowed distrust among the electorate, which has extended to the relief efforts for flood-affected communities in KwaZulu-Natal, where local NGOs are instead being entrusted with providing essential relief measures.

This distrust does serious damage to government’s agility in the face of crises. An agile government is able to respond to crises as they emerge and can help anticipate an appropriate response. Predictive analytics and the advancement of complex systems analysis with cutting-edge technology can help governments develop agility and anticipation and improve their response to future scenarios.

Technology can also improve management of precious public sector finances, which is fundamental to the state’s efforts at supporting citizens during times of crisis and essential to the ongoing delivery of vital services.

Spend management tools such as Concur can provide system-based automated compliance and the option to embed financial policies in the software to align with regulations such as the Public Finance Management Act. This can help restore a culture of accountability that ensures scarce financial resources are spent responsibly and reach the communities that most need it.

As we hurtle into the 21st century, it will become increasingly important for the emergence of more anticipatory digital transformation functions in government than we have today, allowing us to build better, more inclusive, and more resilient societies.

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Reskilling, Growing People, Growing Economies 24 – 26 November , 2021

51��News — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 08:36:23 +0000

With the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, Organizations around the globe had to adjust their business models and operations to ensure business sustainability while remaining a going concern. Given that we are now in the era of the new world of work, the priorities of most CEOs and organizations are shifting. The focus is now on realigning and reskilling their workforce to add value to all stakeholders, impact the growth of the business, and ultimately translate to positive business outcomes and national economic gains.

51��is a proud sponsor of the 53^rd Annual CIPMN Conference taking place on 24^th -26^th ��Ǳ��𳾲��.

Hear from Genevieve Koolen , HR Director 51��Africa , Abbey Seetal, Head Transformation, Diversity & Inclusion Africa as well as ��Bongisa Magumbu, ��HR Solution Advisor for SuccessFactors at 51��Africa, as they share insight into the strategies and tools to grow and retain a diverse workforce.

Link to event:

The objective of the conference is to :

Identify the new skills and competencies that are required in the new dispensation of work.
Identify the gaps in current workforce and design ways of driving economic and human capital growth through reskilling initiatives and interventions.
Educate, empower, enrich, enlighten and equip participants with the knowledge, insights, tools and experiences to grow people, businesses, and economies through a major focus on reskilling.

SPEAKERS:

09:00-10:00

Growing and Retaining a Diverse, All-Inclusive Workforce: Tools and Strategies

Genevieve Koolen, Human Resource Director , 51��Africa

Bongisa Magumbu, HR Solution Advisor for SuccessFactors , 51��Africa

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Teachers to Lead a Post-COVID Recovery in Education

Cathy Smith, Managing Director, 51��Africa — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 06:46:00 +0000

October 5^th is , an annual event marked by UNESCO in recognition of the invaluable contribution teachers make to our children’s future.��With the theme this year, “Teachers at the heart of education recovery”, this year’s celebrations take stock of the huge impact of the COVID pandemic on teachers and students alike.

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The year 2020 will be remembered by teachers around the world as one of adapting to new circumstances and technology. But while in developed countries, online learning merely presented challenges, in Africa the effect was catastrophic. About on the continent were closed, resulting in . On a continent which already displays wide disparities in wealth and access to technology, a disruption of this magnitude was a major setback.

The need to upskill teachers

In fact, most teachers cited a lack of access to technology and affordability issues as the biggest barrier they faced to teach their students online during the pandemic. Before COVID, many African teachers had received . The lockdown forced them to in order to support learners, parents and caregivers so that learning could proceed, despite the uncertainty caused by the virus.

The fact that many new teachers lack digital skills is precisely why the need to upskill them is so crucial. Teachers have enormous potential to bridge the digital divide in Africa. With our annual (ACW), whose launch coincides with World Teacher’s Day, 51��and global partners such as UNESCO, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and Irish Aid, bring together a wealth of talent to train African teachers and students in coding and 21^st century skills. Last year the program reached . More than 10 500 workshops were hosted across 43 countries and 21 000 teachers were mobilised through virtual and in-person Train-the-Trainer sessions.

Teaching digital fluency

��One of the driving forces behind the ACW initiative is to see African countries adopt coding as part of their school curriculum. In a survey conducted among participating countries in 2020, , and ten more indicated they are planning to incorporate coding soon. The survey also found that 87% of respondents agreed that��ACW��plays an influential role in advancing the adoption of coding as a school subject.

Through the initiative’s Train-the-Trainer sessions with learners, ACW is simplifying what has historically been perceived as a highly technical area. Learning how to code is like learning a new language, a language which opens doors into the 21^st century and beyond. African teachers need to be empowered to combine traditional and digital literacy in their classrooms, so that students not only learn to read and write, but to develop their creativity to experiment and find solutions which help them engage better with the world around them.

Since inception in 2015, what we have learned from ACW is that it involves participants who would normally have had no exposure to coding, apart from consuming applications on their smart phones or computers. Coding is relevant to all industries in today’s globalised economy and as a result, digital skills need to be constantly refreshed. Through our innovative public-private partnerships, we firmly believe that by sharing skills and knowledge, we will empower Africans – both teachers and learners – to take control of their futures.

There is little doubt that teachers are key to rebuilding society post-COVID because of their inestimable power to reimagine the future and reshape young people’s lives. To do this, African teachers will need to embrace the technology at their disposal in order for students to get the quality education they need to face the rigours of the digital world. African education must find new models that foreground virtual teaching to cushion it against future disruptions. As ADEA Executive Secretary Albert Nsengiyumva so aptly puts it, “Today, more than ever before, we need to adapt as quickly as possible to crises and look for alternatives to advance education and training in Africa.”

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Technology Initiative Aims to Bridge Africa’s Digital Divide

51��News — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 06:30:55 +0000

Seventh edition of digital literacy program to reach all 54 African countries
New mobile app and coding challenge to kickstart youth innovation
Virtual teacher training model to help scale online learning across the continent

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – October 6^th, 2021 – Africa’s biggest digital skills initiative, 51��Africa Code Week (ACW), officially launched yesterday with a strong focus on virtual learning as the continent struggles to recover after COVID-19 disruption. The launch coincided with , which focuses this year on “teachers at the heart of education recovery”.

Speaking at a virtual event to mark both World Teacher’s Day and the start of 51��Africa Code Week, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Dr Tawfik Jelassi, said that the pandemic has had a devastating effect, not only on the world’s health system and economy, but also on education and the teaching profession. Research shows that have been most impacted by the pandemic, while a UNICEF study estimated that many African schoolchildren . “Teachers are at the heart of global education recovery efforts and are key in accelerating progress towards inclusive, equitable and quality education for every learner in every circumstance,” Jelassi said.

In light of COVID and the need for virtual learning, Jelassi highlighted the importance of digital skills for Africa’s youth. “Understanding information technology, computational thinking, and problem-solving are all fundamental information literacy skills. Everyone should have access to information and be able to obtain the necessary competencies to turn information into knowledge and knowledge into practical value which enhances their lives and well-being,” he said.

The necessity of digital fluency

Since its inception in 2015, Africa Code Week has empowered more than nine million youth and provides free opportunities for students and teachers to learn much-needed technology skills. Last year the format of the program shifted entirely to the exciting world of virtual, making it even more accessible to youth across the continent.

A key highlight for ACW this year is the , a coding competition for students aged 8 to 16 to create a game that solves a community-issue using the��programming language. The theme for this year is “Change the world with your superpowers”. Last year the competition drew entries from 1,800 participants from 40 African countries, with the top three winners from Ethiopia, South Africa and Algeria – all three of whom are girls.

Speaking at the virtual launch, Honorable Albert Nsengiyumva, Executive Secretary of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and ACW patron, said that coding offers new ways for young people to find solutions, although he acknowledged that infrastructure on the continent remains a challenge. “Coding is a language which young people need to be fluent in,” he said. “It gives our children computational skills and the ability to creatively solve problems.”

Encouraging teachers and girls to embrace technology

As part of ACW, a host of Train-the-Trainer virtual sessions are aimed at empowering teachers with critical digital teaching skills. Training opportunities also encompass a Women Empowerment Program which seeks to teach, mentor, and inspire African women and girls to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Although Africa has according to the UN, less than are in STEM fields and female students in particular are critically underrepresented.

Speaking of the need to educate educators, Claudio Muruzabal, 51��Regional President of EMEA South, said, “Education has an unbelievably powerful multiplier effect for a positive future. The more we can do to create opportunities for young people to embrace digital literacy, the more we contribute relevantly towards creating a better future for them, for their families, and for their communities.”

Smart switch to mobile technology

With , a major innovation of last year’s ACW was the introduction of a smartphone app. “While we are immensely proud of this and the fact that millions of learners and teachers are being exposed to the endless possibilities the tech world offers, we are also excited to be sparking conversations about access to quality education for all and addressing the gender and special-needs barriers for Africa’s youth,” said Claire Gillissen-Duval, head of 51��Corporate Social Responsibility for EMEA and Africa Code Week founder.

The driving force behind ACW is to empower young people and help them to become digitally literate and enable Africa to leapfrog into the 21st century. “This could only be possible through the collaborative relationships between the public, private and non-profit sectors that are at the heart of ACW,” said Michelle Winthrop, Policy Unit Director at Irish Aid, which together with 51��and UNESCO, is one of the program’s main sponsors.

Despite the restrictions imposed by COVID, last year’s initiative successfully reached 1.5 million youth, of which nearly half (48%) were girls. Over 10,500 workshops were held across 43 countries and 21,000 teachers participated in Train-the-Trainer sessions.

The live workshop season of Africa Code Week 2021 officially commenced on World Teacher’s Day, 5 October, and is now open to more than 54 pan-African countries. For more information about Africa Code Week or to get involved, visit

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COVID-19 Restrictions Result in Disaster Relief Donation

51��News — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 08:22:47 +0000

From one NPO to another, AFSUG supports Gift of the Givers with R100,000 due to cost-saving efforts

South Africa has been counting the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated economic pressure. of the workforce is unemployed, with lost during last year’s hard lockdown, putting additional pressure on families who may have lost their sole breadwinner. This situation has been further exacerbated by the rioting and violence earlier this year, to have the KwaZulu-Natal economy around R20-billion and risking a further 150��000 jobs.

With so many businesses and workers alike in such obvious distress, the African 51��User Group (AFSUG) turned to , the largest disaster response non-governmental organisation of African origin on the African continent, providing an R100��000 donation generated by COVID cost savings this year.

This week, AFSUG – itself a non-profit organisation – handed over the donation to Gift of the Givers to support micro and small businesses with no insurance and were particularly hard hit by the looting in KZN and Gauteng. Since its inception in 1992, Gift of the Givers has been responsible for delivering life-saving goods and on-the-ground support for innumerable people, collectively valued at some R3.8 billion, in more than 44 countries across the globe, including South Africa.

“The essence of our presence is to bring hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable. Gift of the Givers has been working hard to help South African communities rebuild while also supporting Covid-19 relief efforts, and I would like to personally thank AFSUG and its members for their support during this critical time,” said Gift of the Givers’ founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman.

AFSUG, the only user group in Southern Africa, provides a platform for 51��customers and partners to connect, create, and collaborate within the 51��ecosystem. AFSUG is a non-profit organization independent from 51��and governed by a Board of Directors comprising 51��customer and partner companies. These IT executives volunteer their time to make AFSUG a success. The NPO offers 10 Special Interest Groups, focusing on different 51��topics, hosts up to 70 focused events throughout the year, and hosts the biennial SAPHILA conference, one of the largest IT conferences in Africa. In 2020, all activities shifted to online due to the COVID Pandemic. Due to the pandemic, AFSUG realized cost savings in 2020 and 2021, and has donated to two charities on behalf of its members, with Food Forward in 2020 and Gift of the Givers in 2021.

Adding to this, AFSUG Board Chairman Duke Mathebula says that, big or small, each contribution matters. While Covid has brought unprecedented challenges for people and society, it is incredibly heart-warming to see a wave of new ideas and contributions developed in response to the crisis.

“Gift of the Givers is an extremely credible organisation that work to meet the most critical needs in our society, and we felt they were deserving of the donation. We are aware that many companies who would usually support charitable efforts have not been able to do so, and we wanted to help an organisation that was responding to the most crucial and pressing needs of society this year.”

Mathebula concludes, “The reality is that systems need support just like individuals do. Communities are struggling to provide for citizens in need.�� From neighbourly acts of kindness to fearless healthcare professionals, the last two years has shone a light on the power of compassion and solidarity. And hopefully paving a new and inspiring way forward.”

For more information about AFSUG, visit . To learn more about Gift of the Givers visit Facebook and Twitter @GiftoftheGivers or Instagram @gift.of.the.givers.

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East Africa to Bounce Back to Positive Recovery

51��News — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 06:42:49 +0000

Despite economic challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, many East African countries are projected to see positive growth during the recovery process this coming year, according to Smollan.

East African nations are in better condition going into the recovery process, as most have a diversified economy and non-reliance on exports of commodities, according to analyst Judd Murigi from ICEA LION Asset Management.

“How governments and the private sector respond to the impact of the pandemic over the coming months will determine the mid- and long-term success of the region’s efforts at building back better,” said Hardeep Sound, SAP, East Africa.

According to a Deloitte East Africa Economic Impact Report, countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia which had slower GDP growth last year will see positive growth rates this year. East Africa is one of the fastest growing regions on the continent, and has more potential for acceleration.

Ethiopia specifically has promising growth potential, being the second most populous nation in Africa. One obstacle other than its closed economy is the unreliability of supply chains in a landlocked country with relatively poor infrastructure. Additionally, many consumer goods are imported, and the birr is weakening, making inflation a significant concern.

Other countries within East Africa are experiencing similar effects. Kenya, according to Fanuzi, is on the verge of moving from a low-income nation to a middle-class consumer economy. In Uganda, many business owners and retail supply chains were disrupted, impacting the majority of the population that relies on daily wages. Rwanda, after implementing one of the strictest lockdown policies in the continent, is expected to grow by 5.1%.

During the pandemic, much like other nations, East African countries experienced a positive impact on online retailers, brick and mortar markets being severely impacted, increased demand for cleaning products and food supplies, and rising unemployment.

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Concur Detect by Oversight: New Solution Tackles Fraud and Non-compliant Expenses Through AI

51��News — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 06:29:18 +0000

Companies have adjusted their operations to a digital-first world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many companies have sped up their adoption of digital tools to enable employees to work remotely and to file in expenses and invoices digitally.

Despite this, companies continue to struggle with compliance challenges as employees submit expenses and invoices that may not adhere to corporate policies. According to��the ACFE’s��2020��“Report to the Nations”[1], the median loss to a��company��from expense report fraud is $33,000 per year, and a lack of internal controls contribute to nearly one in three frauds.

With many businesses operating on tighter budgets, there’s more pressure to increase spend compliance and reduce errors, fraud, and waste than ever. Timing is also of the essence as businesses expect the situation to become even more complex in the future. According to recent 51��Concur research, almost half of finance and business leaders expect more frequent audit and punitive penalties in a post-COVID world.

To tackle this challenge, businesses need solutions to easily manage employees’ expense and invoice submissions, as well as mitigate compliance risks early. To help companies big and small ensure they are ready to address this, 51��Concur – together with spend management and risk mitigation partner Oversight – launched . The solution powered by AI (artificial intelligence) is designed to simplify an organisation’s expense audit and compliance programme through embedded intelligence and automation. Concur Detect by Oversight uses AI to automate an enormous quantity of data, enabling it to identify errors early and using predictive analytics to empower finance and compliance teams to take proactive action. The solution provides a range of critical features, including:

Simplified processes: Integrated with the Concur Expense workflow, Concur Detect by Oversight’s AI automatically identifies potential mistakes, fraud, and patterns of misuse both before and after reimbursement.
Mitigated risks: The solution can reimburse employees faster with auto-approval of low-risk items while providing a focus for at-risk items.
Greater visibility and control: Concur Detect by Oversight uses intelligent technologies to detect fraud and anomalies humans can’t. Through its use of AI, it can leverage multiple data points for improved confidence, and validation on financial amounts, dates, vendors, and more.
Ability to improve employee behaviour: The solution helps identify accidental misuse vs. fraud, to help auditors focus on developing and improving policies and best practices.Additionally, Concur Detect also tracks incidents against the employee base. This allows businesses to isolate repeat offenders from users who made innocent mistakes.

Mark Cullen, �� EMEA MD, explains:

“Changing expense needs and unclear policies due to working from home scenarios have further complicated an often slow and error-prone audit process. Concur Detect by Oversight addresses our customers’ audit needs so they can improve compliance, identify fraud, and focus more on what matters to their business. With this solution, businesses can do a solid data analysis and focus on making tailored policy adjustments that address the real causes of expense fraud – rather than making potentially unsuitable policy changes based on mere assumptions.”

��For more information on Concur Detect by Oversight, please .

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