“Organisations are leveraging powerful business AI capabilities to achieve greater efficiency, improve decision-making, support innovation and unlock new market opportunities. By building AI into their core business processes, from finance to supply chain, HR and procurement, African enterprises can increase their performance across a range of activities and unleash a new wave of innovation potential.”

Analysts estimateÌýthat GenAI could add between $2.6-trillion and $4.4-trillion in productivity gains annually. A separate study predicts AI will contribute up to $15.7-trillion to the global economyÌýby the end of the decade.

, Deputy Group CEO, , says the time for AI-powered innovation is now as Africa is reshaped by rapid technological advances. “Eleven of the twenty fastest-growing economies in 2024 are in Africa, spurred on by innovation across a range of industries and use cases. The continent also boasts a vibrant startup ecosystem with a growing list of innovative companies addressing issues ranging from clean energy, e-commerce, health and financial services. The entry of business AI solutions will likely accelerate these innovation efforts and speed up time to market for a growing list of new solutions.”

Strong business case for AI in Africa

Karageorgiades believes there is a strong business case for AI within African enterprises, most notably as a tool for accelerated decision-making. “Enterprises that leverage business AI to enhance decision-making gain greater competitiveness, increased operational efficiency, and more powerful innovation capabilities. Provided there is a strong alignment with broader business objectives, organisations can confidently make use of AI as a key business driver.”

Gumede also notes the opportunity for African enterprises to leverage broader digital transformation as a growth driver.

“Improved internet penetration thanks largely to the proliferation of mobile technologies is connecting African companies to more customers than ever before. By developing mobile apps, e-commerce platforms and digital services tailored to the unique needs of local businesses and consumers, enterprises can unlock new market opportunities while enhancing their customer engagement efforts.”

In addition, Gumede believes business AI solutions will enable new productivity gains, empowering employees with capabilities that can make their job functions more efficient and effective.

“Considering our continent’s unique landscape, organisations must localise emerging technologies such as AI to ensure they meet the needs of local companies and customers. Care should also be taken to ensure organisations have the necessary technology infrastructure in place to truly unlock the full value from their AI investments.”

Unleashing business AI potential

Despite interest in AI reaching unprecedented levels over the past two years, some questions still remain over its enterprise readiness. Karageorgiades explains that poorly trained AI solutions could become a liability to the business, instead of an asset.

“The tendency of AI solutions to hallucinate – where the algorithm produces false information in response to user prompts – poses a direct risk to enterprises that business leaders cannot ignore. An AI solution is only a good as the data it is trained on, making a strong case for companies to invest in comprehensive data setup, data strategy, and governance capabilities.”

Gumede adds that organisations that focus on quality data will achieve more effective decision-making capabilities. “The hype around AI is settled; now it’s about the practical implementation. African enterprises are currently exploring the role that AI could play in supporting their sustainability efforts, bringing greater stability to their supply chains, and improving the business’ ability to sense, recognise and respond to disruptions or opportunities in novel ways.”

Enterprise-grade business AI solutions such as SAP’s , which draws on the trusted data of enterprise resource planning platform, are more suited to powering the innovation and efficiency gains that African enterprises seek. According to Karageorgiades, businesses also benefit from higher levels of collaboration when users trust the output of their AI-powered applications.

“Business AI solutions that draw on trusted, accurate and real-time information about the business deliver actionable insights that support business users in fulfilling essential work tasks faster and with fewer errors. While we are still in the early days of understanding the true potential of AI in modern enterprises, any business that seeks to benefit from this emerging technology must take care to train their AI solutions only on trusted business data.”

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According to Nazia Pillay, Head of Partner Ecosystem, 51·çÁ÷Middle East and Africa: South, the role of partners has become more critical in the wake of changing customer demands and the impact of technologies such as AI.

“Organisations are in a race to define new business cases, unlock new revenue streams, drive higher levels of efficiency and ease the adoption of powerful new technologies. To adequately address customer needs, companies have to increasingly rely on the skills and capabilities of a thriving ecosystem of expert partners. As a partner-led organisation, 51·çÁ÷is proud to celebrate the invaluable partners that bring the business value of SAP’s technology to life in support of the growth and success of companies throughout the African continent.”

The latest 51·çÁ÷Africa Partner Awards recognise excellence in six distinct categories, with a strong focus on supporting African enterprises’ efforts at migrating to the cloud. Winners are selected from the broader partner ecosystem and evaluated according to strict criteria.

The winning companies at this year’s 51·çÁ÷Africa Partner Awards include:

• Sol Arch Consulting, winner of the Rising Star category, which considers the number and value of cloud bookings for a new partner onboarded in the past year;
• Epi-Use Africa, winner of the Innovation Award for its packaged solutions and own IP in the 51·çÁ÷app store;
• New Dawn Technologies, winner in the Top Cloud Performance category which considers the value of cloud bookings and number of deals;
• IE Network Solutions and Wragby Business Solutions, joint winners in the Top Capacity Growth category, which considers the percentage increase in certified cloud consultants as well as the amount of training conducted;
• Dimension Data, winner in the Go Lives category which recognises the number of customer go-lives; and
• Microware Solutions in the NNN category, which recognises the number of net-new sales and the value of net-new deals.

“The winners at this year’s 51·çÁ÷Africa Partner Awards represent the very highest levels of excellence and expertise in supporting the technology ambitions of companies throughout the continent,” says Pillay. “We are proud to work alongside our valued partners as we drive Africa’s digital transformation efforts forward.”

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In this ever-changing and challenging business environment, the key question is how business leaders can future-proof their organizations to survive and thrive during disruptive times, by proactively sensing and responding to these changes.

Join us at the 51·çÁ÷Africa Business Transformation Tour for insights and strategies on these and other business challenges

On the 16^th of March we will be hosting the 51·çÁ÷Africa Business Transformation Tour at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg.

ÌýThe Business Transformation Tour brings together business leaders across all industries and sectors. This year, our event is themed “Navigating the Winds Change in a Digital-first World”Ìýand is focused on how businesses can navigate challenges in the business and economic environment, and how leveraging technology can empower them.

Interested? Please register here:

The post 51·çÁ÷Africa Business Transformation Tour: The Maslow Hotel, Johannesburg, 16th March 2023 appeared first on 51·çÁ÷Africa News Center.

51·çÁ÷Africa is aware of the site – SAP27.com – circulating in South Africa on a number of social media platforms. Whilst the site makes use of the 51·çÁ÷name, logo, and branding elements, it is not an official 51·çÁ÷site and infringes several 51·çÁ÷trademarks.

More importantly, the site is falsely claiming to be offering 51·çÁ÷employment opportunities and cash for completing tasks. Please note that this is not the case. 51·çÁ÷is in no way affiliated to this site, nor to the initiative, nor to the owners of this scam. Several people have already lost money through this illegitimate initiative. We strongly encourage everyone not to engage with SAP27 in any way.

Please note that all legitimate 51·çÁ÷job opportunities are posted on our

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