///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
FEATURE: DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY
3. Improving market access and ease of doing business.
Nigeria’s experience highlights the opportunities and challenges
facing companies in Africa’s e-commerce sector. Nigeria is Africa’s
largest market, both by size of GDP and population and with an
estimated two thirds of Nigeria’s Internet users having shopped
online at least once, there is an e-customer base of almost 60 million
Nigerians. Drone technology and 3D printing have also helped Africa
to bypass infrastructure challenges and improve access to markets,
previously unreachable.
4. Healthcare and crisis prevention. Disruptive technology is helping
to overcome the traditional barriers of distance and limited access to
healthcare. One example is Peek, a portable eye examination kit which
lets users carry out eye exams by taking high quality retinal images
with their mobile phone.
is essential for disruptive development in Africa. Connectivity links
consumers to businesses but also enables innovators to share ideas
and seek funding and advice through the shared economy.
While mobile connectivity is well-advanced across Africa, Internet
availability lags behind. Less than 30% of African people have access
to mobile broadband and only 15% have Internet at home.
2. Strengthening trust and combating corruption. Blockchain
is emerging as a key tool in stamping out corruption and waste,
particularly in the public sector. Blockchain is already being used
in Africa to improve traceability in the diamond trade, and has the
potential for many other applications including combatting tax
avoidance, avoiding land registry disputes and providing greater
transparency of public spending.
www.intelligentcio.com
5. Education, innovation and job creation. From Cape Town up to
the ‘Silicon Savannah’ of East Africa, more than 100 tech hubs have
been set up across Africa over the past decade to help foster home-
grown innovation. Many hubs focus on supporting social enterprises
that are developing solutions to social problems.
Technology has also been transforming teaching and training
in Africa, through delivering educational content on mobile and
online channels.
6. Bringing the informal sector into the mainstream economy.
Mobile connectivity brings financial inclusion by enabling banks and
telecoms providers to reach out to previously unbanked customers
with low cost accessible services.
Through the success of the M-PESA payments platform, Kenya
has one of the highest rates of inclusion in Africa, yet comparable
platforms in other countries have found the going harder. n
INTELLIGENTCIO
55