Kathy Gibson at the IDC CIO Summit, Sandton – Africa is seeing massive growth – and the continent is also leading the way in many mobile deployments.
Mark Walker, associate vice-president: sub-Saharan Africa at IDC, says Africa is a healthy market for mobility; but security is still an issue
“From a mobility perspective: mobile has changed the world – everybody uses it; it is the de facto standard for interacting with the world at large.”
In light of the mobile tsunami, it is vital that companies transform their business, especially as it relates to mobility, Walker says.
But technology on its own is not enough. “The question is getting turned around and now owe ask if the business people can speak technology,” Walker says. “And business is starting to get it, because of mobility.”
A key trend for Africa is that mobility will drive digital engagement that integrates the benefits offered by cloud, big data initiatives and social networking.
Enterprise mobility has become a reality in South Africa – it is not the number on technology priority for CIOs in 2014.
A mobile-enabled world is definitely the future, Walker says. This encompasses mobile-enabled business processes, mobile-enabled services and mobile enabled product.
One of the fasted growing companies in Africa right now is Jumia, on online e-commerce platform based entirely on a mobile platform.