News
Africa Tempts Hi-Tec Companies
Multinational HighTech companies looking for new frontiers and fresh ideas are lining up for a slice of Africa’s relatively untapped consumer market.
Many experts are saying the continent is poised to be the next hotbed of technological innovation. Others are even more optimistic.
“Africa is that frontier right now,” said Douglas Idugboe, Canada-based New Media marketing strategist.
And it is the place where “a lot of technology innovation” is taking place, added Mark Walker, a research director at IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa.
“In Africa, the consumers are using technology in new and creative ways,” Walker said. “The most obvious ones are the ones that relate to … payment mechanisms, or transfer of information or just basic human communication.”
Walker said technology development in Africa is the opposite of conventional markets, where innovation has come to be considered more of an improvement on existing products, and less of a breakthrough.
Africa Rising
“If you look today, you see a glut of capacity on the east coast of Africa,” he said. “And you see places like Kenya, places like Tanzania, becoming very, very innovative and using the technology very, very quickly.”
He said Africa also is developing outsourcing companies that provide multinational companies with local talent and labor, and that has been “stealing some of the market away from India.”
“They’ve got a great English-speaking population … They are on the same time zone as Central Europe, and [have] a reasonably well-educated workforce who is able to deploy at a price more competitive that what India would do nowadays,” Walker said.
Marketing strategist Idugboe says Africa has a potentially huge consumer base and companies such as Microsoft, Google and Samsung are paying attention.
“Africa today wants the same things the West already has or wants as well. They want [a] better life,” Idugboe said.
“You’re talking about a market that has over a billion people, a market that is young and growing,” said Nmachi Jidenma, founder of CP Africa, a website that focuses on the continent’s technology and socio-economic progress.
Jidenma said Investors interested in the continent are basing their decisions on an expected “exponential growth in the earning potential of the average African and the fact that conflict is going to continue to decline considerably in most African countries.”
“If these two conditions materialize over the next few decades,” she said, “what we would have is a continent that would be growing exponentially fast, with a young labor force and as a result, a thriving consumer market.”
Jidenma said these companies are looking to Africa as both a consumer of high-tech products and eventually a developer of innovative products that can be marketed to the rest of the world. She cited two African companies that already are successful innovators – Open Source platforms M-Pesa and Ushahidi.
M-Pesa is a mobile phone-based payment, money transfer and microfinancing service.
Since its beginning in Nairobi, Kenya in 2007, it has expanded operations to more than 154 countries.
Ushahidi is a crowdsourcing website that relies on user reports to map incidents of violence. It got started in Nairobi in 2008 to track post-election violence in Kenya and has since been used track Kenya’s peace efforts and to help locate survivors under the rubble of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake.
“What makes Ushahidi so inspiring is that it was started by Kenyans for Kenya,” said Jidenma. “It has become a perfect example of what it takes to develop Africa solutions for African problems and how to export these solutions to other areas of the world.”
These two tech companies aside, Jidenma acknowledged that Africa is still not where it needs to be in high-tech development.
She said companies such as Google are working with telecommunications providers and universities to help make the Internet more useful to Africans.
And Microsoft has recently announced its 4Afrika initiative in Tanzania, where it is teaming up with local companies to provide broadband Internet access to the University of Dar es Salaam.
The company is also working with banks to help African students get loans to buy computer hardware using its Windows 8 operating system.
No Yet ‘Ripe for Picking’
But large parts of Africa lack adequate basic utilities and infrastructure, so even optimists like Walker, the IDC research director, warn that Africa’s market potential is not yet “ripe for picking.”
What’s needed to fix that, Walker said, is a collaborative approach between African companies and the high-tech multinationals. And both sides, he said, need to understand that “it’s not going to be all moonlight and roses along the way.”
Idugboe said the Chinese were the first to take advantage of the opportunities.
“Chinese companies are willing to give a certain quota of the labor force to the local market and give ownership stake to the local market for them to operate, so that you get an incentive as well,” Idugboe said. “And the governments are really catching up to that … kind of initiative and [it] is becoming common ground.”
Culled from Voice of America (Washington, DC)
Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said that Nigerian students will need to present their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination registration number (UTME); National Identification Number (NIN); and Bank Verification Number (BVN) to access student loans.
Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, managing director of NELFUND, assured that the body would ensure that those he called ‘ghost students’ would not have access to the soon-to-be-launched scheme.
The MD noted that NELFUND has put processes in place to ensure that all applicants and beneficiaries are traceable to prevent the loan from turning into a sort of national cake.
“We are using technology to run the system. The process of application is online and we are limiting human contact as much as possible. Once you have a Bank Verification Number, BVN and National Identification Number, NIN, which are parts of the requirements, we will have access to your data and all your accounts. This will also help us to know if you are qualified or not,” he explained.
He explained further that those who are already in school can apply for the loan at any level of their study, but must be at the beginning of each session. They would also have to provide their admission and matriculation details in addition to BVN and NIN.
According to the NELFUND boss, about 1.2 million Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and government-recognized skill acquisition centres would be among the first batch of beneficiaries. The number may increase as time goes on.
The programme, he noted, will be funded with one per cent of the total annual collectable revenue by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which will amount to N194 billion if the agency meets its projection.
He explained that the loan would be paid in two segments. The first, he said, is the chargeable school fees which would be paid directly to the institutions while stipend would be paid into individual student’s account for day-to-day upkeep.
Mr. Sawyerr stated that the amount individual applicants will access will vary because of the course of study, school fees payable and geographical location of the institutions among others.
On the method of payback, he said, “You don’t start paying back the loan until two years after your National Youth Service Corps, NYSC Scheme and that is, if you have secured a job or business. A beneficiary can defer repayment if he has not secured a job, but if after due diligence, he defaulted, then he becomes a criminal and we will work with every agency that can help us get the money back, for example, EFCC, ICPC etc.”
Sun International Limited, run by Anthony Leeming, South African entrepreneur, has agreed to sell its Nigerian interests to Rutam Finance Company Limited (RFC) for roughly $14.4 million.
The move is part of Sun International’s strategy to consolidate operations and focus on key markets. Sun International joined the Nigerian market in 2009, but has struggled in recent years due to a challenging operating climate.
This divestiture is consistent with the company’s strategic objectives and represents a shift in portfolio management.
Sun International, will sell a 43.3 percent ownership investment in Tourist Company of Nigeria PLC (TCN), which manages Lagos’ Federal Palace Hotel, to RFC for $1.875 million.
In addition, the group would pay off its whole $12.675 million credit to RFC, effectively exiting the Nigerian market. The corporation also intends to sell its remaining 6% ownership in TCN in due course.
The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions including as regulatory approvals, is estimated to create a cash inflow of about $14.41 million for Sun International.
These funds will be utilized to reduce debt.
Following the completion of the acquisition, TCN will no longer be included in Sun International’s financial statements.
This will reduce group debt by about $41.82 million, excluding IFRS 16 lease liabilities.
The closing is scheduled for no later than May 28, 2024, provided that all usual closing conditions are met. The Nigerian Competition Authority, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Nigerian Stock Exchange have all provided key clearances.
Sun International, founded in 1968 by the late Sol Kerzner, has grown into a renowned gaming and resort company under Leeming’s leadership.
In fiscal 2023, the company’s revenue increased by 7% to $646.14 million, while headline earnings increased by 86 percent to $55.35 million.
This demonstrates Sun International’s resiliency and strategic direction. Sun International’s pullout from Nigeria demonstrates the company’s dedication to streamlining its portfolio and pursuing growth possibilities in key areas.
With a rich history and a focus on the future, this transaction demonstrates the company’s commitment to create wealth for shareholders and stakeholders while also strengthening its position in the gaming and hospitality industries.
Sam Darwish, a US-Nigerian telecom entrepreneur, has experienced a huge financial setback in his holding in IHS Holdings following a recent drop in the shares of the top telecom infrastructure company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Sam Darwish
According to data, Sam Darwish’s investment in IHS Holdings has lost $6 million in market value during the last 13 days. This drop reflects increasing selling pressure among NYSE investors.
From March 12 to 30, Darwish’s investment in IHS Holdings increased from $35.17 million to $49.27 million, resulting in a $14 million gain.
Darwish founded IHS Holdings in 2001, and it has since grown to become the largest telecom infrastructure business in Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
It is renowned for its huge tower count and is the world’s third-largest independent international tower firm.
In the last 13 days, IHS Holdings shares on the NYSE have dropped by 11.72 percent, from $3.67 on April 3 to $3.24 at the time of writing.
As a result, the company’s market capitalization has dropped below $1.1 billion, causing significant losses for stockholders.
As chairman and CEO of IHS Holdings, Sam Darwish holds a critical position in African telecom.
With a strong 4.17 percent ownership holding, equivalent to 13,958,158 ordinary shares, he is a key participant in the global telecom infrastructure business.
The recent double-digit loss in IHS Holdings shares has resulted in a $6 million decrease in the market value of Darwish’s shareholding in the top telecom infrastructure company. His shareholding has decreased from $51.23 million on April 3 to $45.22 million.
Despite this defeat, Darwish remains an important figure in the worldwide telecom business.
IHS Holdings’ extensive tower network and smart acquisitions have secured its position as a major participant in the global telecom infrastructure sector.
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