Casablanca Finance City has just released its sixth report in the CFC Africa Insights series, “Rising to the Digital Challenge in Africa” in association with Boston Consulting Group, an international strategy consulting firm and a member of the CFC community since 2012.
The sixth report in the CFC Africa Insights series has just been released to the public by Casablanca Finance City during a webinar organized by the financial and economic center and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). This report focuses in particular on the opportunities that a resilient Africa must seize, underlines a joint press release.
Bringing together experts from different member companies of the CFC community, including BCG, SAP, Orange and African institutions such as Kigali Innovation City, this webinar was an opportunity to address the challenges and opportunities of digitization in Africa as a consequence of the pandemic of Covid-19.
According to experts, if the continent lags behind other regions in terms of digital adoption and maturity, this is due to an underdeveloped connectivity infrastructure, a lack of trust in digital service providers, and a lack of digital talent.
However, optimistic experts note, there is an emerging desire in Africa to catch up. They believe that digital adoption and infrastructure construction are faster in Africa than in other regions, emphasizing that the Covid-19 crisis has accelerated digital adoption.
In this regard, Patrick Dupoux, Managing Director and Senior Partner, Head of Africa at BCG, said: “Our research shows that digitization is happening faster in Africa than in any other region in the world. This creates exciting opportunities for consumers and businesses, including the chance to bypass older technologies and forge a uniquely African path. The rapid adoption of mobile payment is just one example of how digital is about to improve lives. ” In addition, the experts called on African companies and governments to coordinate their efforts on three fronts to achieve the success of digitization in Africa.
The first step is to create large-scale business opportunities, they note, emphasizing that a large market size is essential for digital business models to be viable and sustainable in a continent that has many borders and is less populated than others. Next, experts recommend that companies and governments nurture and attract digital talent, which they believe will require a full range of initiatives at the company and country level.
Finally, for companies, it will be about building ecosystems and innovation poles that encourage all stakeholders, namely governments, companies, investors, incubators, universities and private operators. The goal of this third point is to work together to unlock the potential of digital services by improving access to financing, regulation and technology options, they say.
For his part, Saïd Ibrahimi, CEO of Casablanca Finance City, said: “In just a few months, the Covid-19 crisis has brought about major changes in the way companies do business. In another context, it would have taken years “
Furthermore, the CFC report stresses that the public and private sectors must establish regular and strategic coordination. Together, they can build an ecosystem to help entrepreneurs and startups by improving financing options, regulation and technology, the report concludes.
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