Kathy Gibson reports – Technological advances in Africa have been buoyed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lesiba Mothata, head: strategic clients at Alexander Forbes, points out that working from home has become standard as lockdowns close traditional workplaces.
“It hasn’t been induced by legislation or government, but it may prove to be a permanent thing,” he says.
“We have said that data will become the new oil: Covid-19 has exacerbated that. When we work from home our cars are parked outside but data is vital.”
Alexander Forbes partnered with Mercer to ask companies about their plans for 2020.
At the beginning of the year, flexible work was their key top of mind for 2020, with 82% saying they are planning it.
“So there is consensus in the world that we are going to be doing flexible work,” Mothata says.
Financial services and technology are leading the industry sectors ready to work from home. The life sciences industry is also well prepared, followed by consumer goods and insurance.
The industries least ready for remote working are automotive and health.
In South Africa, 58% of employees feel trusted to work flexibly.
Mercer asked companies how many workers were remote before Covid-19, and found that about a quarter did so on a regular basis.
“Now the world has changed, Covid has come, and it has expedited a few things,” Mothata says.
With Covid-19, new concerns come to the fore.
Companies are concerned with the reliability of remote technology (72% in Africa and 58% globally). In Africa, 47% of companies provide subsidies for employees working from home, compared to 15% globally.
Most African companies are concerned about remote workers’ productivity (89%), compared to 81% globally.
In Africa, a majority of countries don’t have universal internet access at home – indeed, only 17,8% of African households have internet access and just 10,7% have a computer at home.
A lot of effort has been made to up the ante on these statistics, Mothata points out. At least 79% of African inhabitants are now covered by 3G, and a few countries will have rolled out 5G by 2025, he adds.
In the last few weeks, a consortium of telcos has come together to build a new undersea cable to serve Africa, Mothata adds.
“Suppliers of tech have woken up. They have planned this for some time, but Covid has expedited it. The world has changed, and they are putting more than $1-billion to make this cable happen.”
The pandemic and increasing use of technology could drive fundalmental industry changes, Mothata says. Countries relying on a single commodity need to nurture sectors that have increased in significance, like agriculture, services, wholesale and retail trade in Nigeria.
Climate change is an issue that Africa needs to be concerned about, Mothata adds, with the cost rising as we go forward.
Technology can be applied to deal with climate change and its impact on agriculture. Things like crop sensors, drones, management systems and precision monitoring are examples of how technology can help.
In short, Mothata says, the pandemic is likely to expedite the adoption of new technology as work from home is entrenched, as climate change becomes an issue, as sectoral shifts take place, and as Africa leapfrogs the release of spectrum and related use of next-generation connectivity.