Understanding Digital Transformation in Africa.

Africa is beautiful. Africa is unique. Africa can be better.

Africa has a rich culture and history. We have come a long way since the colonial era, and depending on the perspective, an observer may still see a mountain of problems, or a sea of economic opportunities in virtually every sector.

Africans have always been a dynamic people. We may have missed the first, second, and perhaps the third industrial revolutions, but the last two decades have been of remarkable growth. When one combines the continent’s youthful population structure with the fact that we have fewer legacy challenges to deal with, it would be evident that we are at the precipice of a momentous phase of economic development.

In recent decades, technology and digitization have changed our society. It has changed how we communicate with each other and how we behave as consumers. The exponential evolution of digital technology (best described by Moore’s, Butter’s, and Kryder’s laws) has had such a profound impact on business that many have either gone bankrupt or are struggling to remain competitive. In these times, digital transformation - the integration of digital technologies into all business functions to fundamentally reshape value creation and delivery - is imperative.

Doing business in Africa is hard, incredibly so. As a result, any solution to address the unique challenges we face has to be tailored to the African reality. According to the International Finance Cooperation, MSMEs account for up to 90% of all businesses in African markets and as such, remain highly important drivers of economic growth in African economies. Hence, for the conversation around innovation and digital transformation to be truly impactful, we need to consider the broad range of business activity across the continent.

Comprehensive digital transformation would require innovation at all levels: process, product, and business model. Such a new strategy has to be accompanied by a shift in culture. The most basic part of this shift is learning new tools, but even that is plagued by the pace of technological advances. From digital marketing to data analytics, SaaS tools, artificial intelligence, and even digital twins, it would require a thorough understanding of the landscape to properly map out what your business currently needs.

There is also the question of the return on technology investment. For various reasons, there is usually a considerable lag period between when investment is first made and when there is an uptick in the KPIs. This assumes, however, that the investment is done right and consistently, the right metrics are being monitored, and no cancellation effects are happening elsewhere in the business.

The purpose of Checkit’s Digital Transformation Agenda is to help businesses navigate these challenges. There is a lot of work already being done in this area, especially by the African Union. Our goal is to bring this closer to home, to drive the fundamental paradigm shifts that would cause the larger agenda to be more effective.