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Innovation

Driving Resilient Economies Through the Digitization of Small and Medium Enterprises

By Gerald Maithya, SME Lead, Microsoft Africa Transformation Office

Published

8 months ago

on

Digitization of SMEs in Africa

This article was first published by Microsoft’s Africa Transformation office

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are a crucial part of contributing to Africa’s inclusive socio-economic growth. These businesses anchor the economies of countries and are contributing to inclusive socio-economic growth. In emerging economies, SMEs account for 40% of GDP and generate at least 90% of new jobs.

This is even more pronounced in Africa, where more than 60% of Africa’s population is under the age of 25. SMEs account for about 80% of jobs in Africa, while the African Union Development Agency notes that up to 90% of the population in African countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya are employed within SMEs.

SMEs employ people, supply products and services and act as an important link in the manufacturing value chain, generating economic activity along the way. The way that many manufactured products reach consumers is through SMEs, usually through a network of small independent retail stores such as dukas and kiosks in Kenya, ojas in Nigeria, hanouts in Morocco or spaza shops in South Africa. In doing so, SMEs are the cornerstone of most economies. By enabling SMEs to grow and compete in the value chain, countries’ economies can be strengthened.

SMEs face many obstacles on the path to success

Despite the important role SMEs play in African economies, there are several challenges standing in the way of their survival and success. In fact, research indicates that up to 80% of African SMEs ail within the first five years, despite having the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world. Infrastructure and connectivity, access to business enablement tools, access to finance and digital skills are all potential stumbling blocks for SMEs.The biggest obstacle most SMEs face is accessing finance and affordable lending. These businesses frequently lack suitable information such as a credit history, financial statements and other prerequisite data points, while the traditional credit-scoring models that many financial institutions use prejudice SMEs. Without access to working capital, SMEs are unable to invest in their business and grow. There is a need to enable tools that SMEs can utilise to collect and manage transactional data that can be used to provide valuable business insights to guide decision-making for the SME, and that can be leveraged to create financial reports.

Digitising SMEs has benefits that support economic growth

Digitisation can help businesses build a financial and transactional history that helps them access loans. This information and well-organised data can enable access and diversification of financing for SMEs in Africa. This financing in turn helps them grow their business, employ more people and contribute to their country’s economy.

Microsoft engages with international organisations such as the IFC, and local financial services institutions, to create innovative financing mechanisms for SMEs on the African continent that enable them to build a credit record and differentiated data sets that tell the story of the business rather than a pure money-in-money-out overview. This allows for a wider range of borrowing opportunities, enabling SMEs to become part of the integrated value chain and participate in the formal economy.

Business tools are an important part of the journey

To successfully complete their digitisation journey, these small and medium businesses also need connectivity and devices that are suitable for business development. Challenges around connectivity and device affordability are certainly not new to Africa. Though the issue of internet access varies considerably depending on the country in question, high cost of data is still a major hurdle for many nations across the continent. Research from the Alliance for Affordable Internet shows that just 14 out of 48 countries in Africa have access to affordable internet, with affordability defined as 1GB of mobile prepaid broadband costing two percent or less of the average monthly income.

Microsoft is working to address Africa’s connectivity issues through the Airband Initiative, which provides investment into infrastructure that drives connectivity. The initiative partners with African startups that are overcoming barriers to affordable internet access in unconnected communities by using TV white space (TVWS) and other innovative last-mile access technologies. Accelerated internet adoption is the precursor to digital enablement. Recently, Microsoft announced that it is expanding the Airband Initiative through new partnerships with local and global providers to bring internet access to 100 million Africans by the end of 2025, and working with partner Viasat, Microsoft is extending satellite connectivity to 5 million Africans.

Another sticking point is access to business hardware. The vast majority of SME owners and entrepreneurs in Africa rely on smartphones to run their businesses. However, being able to access devices such as laptops with preloaded software could help business owners to manage their business processes and reap the rewards of access to best-in-class Software as a Solution (SaaS) products more easily.

As a company, Microsoft has recognised that different SMEs have entirely different solution requirements. Microsoft differentiates itself by working with Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and startups who build software solutions that can be used with Microsoft technologies. This allows businesses of all sizes to these solutions from the marketplace, with the benefit that when curating a business bundle, an SME can look at their specific needs and match to the software that’s in the Microsoft Marketplace.

The digitisation journey must include skills development

SME owners often have little access to business skills development opportunities. Through platforms such as the Africa Transformation Office’s SME Skilling package, Microsoft Learn, the Cloud Academy and LinkedIn Learning, SME owners can increase their business understanding to help their day-to-day business operations, build their business literacy and develop the technical understanding necessary to support their digitisation journey.

Digitisation can significantly enhance financial inclusion, most particularly for unserved and underserved enterprises such as SMEs. Creating an enabling environment for these important economically active businesses that helps them thrive and participate actively in the continent’s economies is essential for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

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Innovation

Britam uses technology to offer premium relief for Motor insurance Customers.

Published

7 months ago

on

March 5, 2024

By

Britam AI Care

Britam General Insurance has launched a comprehensive, mileage-based telematics motor insurance cover, dubbed Motomatics, in partnership with AiCare Telematics Ltd, that enables consumers to pay less premiums, if they drive less than 10,000 km per year, and drive well.

The Motomatic cover is powered by Telematics Technology provided by Aicare, that uses an on-board device installed on the vehicle, or a mobile application downloaded to one’s phone, to collect and transmit data on driving behavior, such as speed, mileage, braking, acceleration, and location.

A comprehensive formula makes use of the driving data collected to calculate an appropriate driving score.

Based on the driver’s score, Motomatic will give drivers a discount for driving less, translating to a discount of up to 20% against the standard pricing, depending on the vehicle type and value.

Customers will be able to track their mileage through the mobile app or an online account, review their driving behavior analytics, file a claim, and access immediate support in the event of an accident.

The Motomatic cover has a mileage cap of 10,000 km, based on insights generated by Aicare’s data collected over time. Upon depletion of the mileage cap, customers can opt to top up the mileage for an additional 10,000 km, via their mobile app or online account.

Tom Gitogo, Britam Group Managing Director and CEO said, “Motomatic offers customers flexibility and cost efficiency enabling them to access services that align with their lifestyles especially within the motor insurance space that has had seen minimal innovation. The launch of Motomatics aligns with our purpose of safeguarding dreams and aspiration.”

Adding, “We shall continue in our quest to roll out products that speak to the customer while riding on technology as an enabler.”

Evah Kimani, Britam’s Director of Partnerships and Digital, said, “Our partnership with Aicare to support Motomatic positions Britam at the core of offering customer centric solutions that are backed by data. This is the future of insurance where risk will be priced based on data specific to the customer.”

Motomatic which is an annual cover, offers several benefits including accidental loss, damage or destruction to the vehicle covered under the policy. Additional benefits include accidental loss or damage to the other person’s property arising from usage of the covered vehicle, among others.

To access Motomatic, customers can visit the product page on motomatic.britam.com, to check whether they qualify, run a quote and proceed to buy.

Also Read: Ericsson and MTN Group Partner to Elevate Business and Operations Support Systems for Innovation and Growth in Africa

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Education

Generation Connect Young Leadership Programme in Partnership with Huawei

Published

8 months ago

on

March 2, 2024

By

generation-connect

Generation Connect Young Leadership Programme (GCYLP) is an exciting programme to engage, empower, and inspire young digital leaders and changemakers. GCYLP aims to support young visionaries from around the world who propose creative, far-reaching, innovative, and feasible community-driven projects aimed at creating a more inclusive and empowered digital future. 

ITU in partnership with Huawei, is providing guidance, training, and financial support to 30 young fellows per year to enable them to practically implement digital development projects in their diverse communities across the world. Through this programme, young leaders have the unique opportunity to make new digital development ideas a reality, or to expand the impact of their existing projects!

Who should apply?

  • Are you a young person aged 18-28?
  • Are you interested in making real impact in your communities by leading your own digital development project?
  • Are you currently enrolled or recently graduated from a tertiary education institution from a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) or a demonstrably STEM-related academic programme?
  • Are you able to communicate in English, the main language of the programme? This language requirement is to ensure that all fellows can benefit from the planned offerings of trainings, networking, and events.

What will you get?

  • Virtual mentorship and leadership training sessions from ITU and Huawei.
  • Participation in an in-person global training week (location TBC).
  • Up to USD 10,000 grant to implement a digital development project of your choice. All 30 selected fellows will receive an initial USD 5000 grant towards the implementation of a digital development project of their choice. The most impactful projects at the end of the year will receive an extra USD 5000 grant to scale up.

The programme on Generation Connect Young Leadership will be conducted in English only.

Applications are open!

Please complete the application form by the deadline of 23:59 CET on Saturday 23 March 2024. This form is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Please Click on the top-right hand side of the form to change the language.

Read: MTN Group and Huawei Partner to Launch Joint Innovation Technology Lab for Advancing Africa’s Digital Ecosystem

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Environment

How Congolese Youth Are Using Technology to Make a Difference

Published

8 months ago

on

March 2, 2024

By

Tech 4 Good Congo

This article was first published by OpenMap Development Tanzania

“Open Skies Fellows,” a fellowship program led by OpenMap Development Tanzania in collaboration with Uhurulabs and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, is designed to support youth and give them a chance and responsibility to gain social and technological skills to leverage their potential to solve community challenges using technology.

In 2022 OSF expanded its wings to DRC where we explore the minds of young people, the selection of fellows started with a week-long workshop where 22 girls showed up with awesome project ideas at the workshop, and by January 2023, 10 projects that stood out the most were selected and got a chance to be funded.

This blog covers the projects that were conducted by the first cohort of fellows in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For the first cohort of Openskies in DRC, there are 10 projects, all of which serve a purpose in our society, whether it is climate change issues, education, finance, energy issues, agriculture, or afforestation and deforestation issues.

Water-related projects

In the first cohort, 3 of the 10 projects were based on Water Systems and how technologies can be used to provide water in good quality and quantity,

Marceline Nsimire worked on photovoltaic pumping, which is a system consisting of using solar panels to power a water pump, making it possible to draw water from a natural source such as a well or a river and store it in reservoirs for later use. The use of solar energy to drive the pump offers a sustainable and economical solution for irrigating crops, watering livestock, or supplying households with drinking water.

Rachel Kiwewa developed an automatic water distribution system, which automatically extracts the exact amount of water in liters requested from a water well, using an Arduino microcontroller, ultrasonic sensor, LCD SCREEN, and point of sale powered by solar. And the last one

Dieuvie Iyaba developed a smart water meter with an application that is a tool that allows you to measure water flows and then transmits it to an application that will help users track water consumption and see real-time billing.

Projects related to Apps development

Four fellows developed tools that can work with application, meaning it doesn’t need humans. Been to work, it can work even at a distance without an effort made by a human.

First, we have Grace and Ena, two fellows who worked together on a project called Fungola Car a tracking system consisting of an electronic kit with a GPS receiver receiving location coordinates, direction, speed, altitude, and time from surrounding satellites every 4 seconds. The latter communicates to a mobile application serving as a user interface for the driver or owner, allowing them to see in real-time where the vehicle is and to lock and unlock it remotely if necessary.

The second one is Louange Bosso who developed a smart trash can with an application that is a computerized system put in place to detect the trash can, once the trash can is full, the application will send a notification to let the owner know that the trash is full, so she/he can take out the trash.

The third one is Valerie Bosaki who developed a traveling elevator that allows people to carry weight when working at high height places with much more safety while minimizing the risk of harming themselves this traveling elevator only concerns people who carry weight out work at high heights.

Then Amina developed an automatic and connected drip irrigation system by the name of Moloni tech which is an automatic and connected drip irrigation system that has its origins in IOT applied to agriculture, to help farmers irrigate their land efficiently and reduce their water consumption.

Solar Tracker by Dorcas Bangamingi She created a solar tracker. It’s a rotating solar panel system that traps solar energy in the panel and then transforms it into electricity. When there is no electricity, it can last up to 4 hours. It can rotate following the direction of the sun and it has an alarming system that can notify users through SMS for repair. The prototype that has been developed can only charge phones and switch on the light.

Transforming Organic Waste into Biogas: A Project for a Healthy Environment, a Diversified Economy, and Climate Change Mitigation

Developed by Nadege Mukanisa the vision of this project is to recover organic waste for a healthy environment and a diversified economy. The project is developed so it can help transform Organic Waste into Biogas: by Developing a system to efficiently transform organic waste into biogas for heating purposes. She is looking forward to reducing Youth unemployment by Creating employment opportunities, particularly for young individuals through the various phases of the project. Lastly, it addresses deforestation by providing an eco-friendly alternative to traditional heating sources, contributing to the fight against global warming and climate change.

Despite COVID-19 hindering project implementation in the DRC, we have managed to get 10 strong projects that will make an impact on society, Since most people have a negative perception of this country this project implementation was a win-win and a way to show Africans that DRC is a safe country and has many innovative youth that are ready to change the world.

For more insight into the Open Skies Program visit: https://openskiesfellows.org/

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