E-Business
Platform Economy Of The Future, Pathway To Drive Growth, Jobs Across Africa
By William Mzimba
Many companies, whether they realize it or not, have already taken steps to embed themselves into the digital ecosystems that will drive their growth in future.
However, the pace of adopting new digital platforms for doing business needs to increase – especially in Africa. These platforms are business models that create value by facilitating exchanges between two or more interdependent groups, usually consumers and producers.
According to the Wall Street Journal platform companies are major drivers of innovation as the top companies set the standards for the digital transformation taking place around the world. Traditional companies are challenged to keep up or risk being left behind. As platforms become the new normal for how business is done, African companies must seize this opportunity to begin to build a new digital value chain.
Already, more than a quarter (27%) of the executives Accenture recently surveyed report that digital ecosystems are transforming the way their organizations deliver value. And we found that 81% of executives say platform-based business models will be core to their growth strategy within three years.
The mandate for leaders is to capitalize on new relationships, building a network of digital partners that will not only enhance their existing business, but also allow them to forge their way into newly emerging digital ecosystems.
What we are seeing is that entire ecosystems of customers are aggregating around several new digital platforms, and businesses are more motivated than ever before to take advantage of these entry points.
Communication platforms like WeChat and WhatsApp, and Artificial Intelligence intermediaries like the Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri represent distinct ecosystems delivering unprecedented access to customers – and businesses are flocking to them.
A couple of examples include Hyatt Hotels, which uses Facebook Messenger to let guests do everything from booking and checking existing reservations to ordering room service during a stay, while Capital One bank developed a ‘skill’ for Amazon Echo’s Alexa, allowing people to check their accounts and pay credit card bills via the Echo device.
It is little surprise that the trend two of our Tech Vision 2017 study highlights that in the State of the Cloud survey 95% of respondents reported using public, private, or hybrid cloud technology, while the CIO Strategic Partner Index run by the IDC reports that 29% of IT leaders are spending more than half their IT budget on external providers. Each platform commitment means easier future engagement with other companies on the platform using the same infrastructure.
However, of the 176 platform companies included in a recent report, The Rise of the Platform Enterprise: A Global Survey led by Peter Evans and Annabelle Gawer and sponsored by the Center for Global Enterprise, Asia has the largest number with 82, 64 of which are in China. North America has 64, with 63 in the US.
Europe is a major consumer of platform services, but it’s home to relatively few platform companies –27 spread across 10 countries, 9 of which are in the UK.
It is concerning Africa and Latin America have a number of small platform companies, only 3 of which have met the $1 billion valuation threshold for inclusion in the survey.
More African companies need to decide which ecosystems to join and which roles to play as the technology changes are only the beginning.
How do African companies begin to close the gaps? An important way to get moving on this journey is to conduct an audit identifying how many internal and external platforms you are using and the goals for their use. Identify and address unnecessary overlaps.
Determine the platforms your organization most relies on, as well as those that most depend on you. These are the ecosystems where your organization should hold its strategic and market strengths.
Over the next 100 days, look to essentially develop a comprehensive strategy to establish the foundation for your platform business model and ecosystem.
During this phase you should appoint a C-suite sponsor to oversee a team that is responsible for championing your new ecosystem and digital partnership strategies.
Then ever the next year, leadership should have achieved comprehensive understanding of the new rules of business, developed a platform business model strategy, and started to test it with the launch of a small pilot program.
Companies should keep expanding the conversation: for instance, in the first 100 days have a strategy summit with your closest partners to understand their goals for the future. Uncover shared goals and commit to developing a strategic plan for achieving them together.
Consider your organization’s future through the lens of the biggest disruptions shaping your market, from inside and outside your industry.
Craft the ideal role of your company in this future, and develop a shortlist of partners who can help make it a reality. And remember to develop metrics to quantify the results of ecosystem participation.
Many global brands are already taking the bold steps needed. The digital ecosystem is, for instance, totally redefining what automakers do. Rather than just building cars, they’re engaging with customers throughout the vehicle lifecycle, directly managing software upgrades, diagnostics, and safety.
In the insurance industry, pulling down driving data from connected car platforms has enabled new services such as pay-per-mile insurance with newcomers like Google and Metromile to challenge the industry status quo. The opportunities are endless, no matter what industry you are in.
General Motors kicked off 2016 with a $500 million investment into ride-share platform Lyft. The move gave GM the inroads to launch their Express Drive service, an exclusive offering for successful, but car-less, Lyft driver applicants to rent a car directly from GM and get to work right away.
The program was remarkably successful in the short term, opening a new line of business for GM: by July, 30% of new Lyft drivers were requesting an Express Drive vehicle in their sign-up.
In addition to partnering with Lyft, GM also made a $1 billion-plus acquisition of the autonomous vehicle software company Cruise Automation, and another billion-dollar investment in building an autonomous vehicle testing facility in Detroit.
This shows how platforms are rapidly becoming the central hubs for the rich and complex digital ecosystems that companies want to access. Consider the fact that 70% of ’unicorn’ startups (over $1 billion!) are platform companies.
Other companies such as personal car-rental app Turo and group dining experience Feastly have introduced their own offerings, as have dozens of start-ups, each with their own angle and offering. LiquidSpace, which lists offerings in more than 500 cities across the US, Australia and Canada, offers a platform for renting workspaces and meeting rooms by the day or hour.
In South Africa, a good example of a company embracing the platform economy and reaping rewards is Discovery Vitality, while Discovery’s proposed bank is another example of the evolution of this concept into other exciting sectors.
The retail market for consumer goods in SA received a shot in the arm in 2015 when Kalahari was merged with Takealot, with the technology platform cleverly harnessed to drive growth since then.
Remember the sharing economy brings people together through technology to exchange or rent access to goods and services, so entrepreneurs are building this economy by leveraging emerging digital technologies to meet customer needs in new and disruptive ways.
Digital and mobile technologies have combined with public support to create a host of opportunities to transform the way government manages the infrastructure it has already acquired. For instance, through MuniRent, six local governments in Michigan are already renting equipment to and from each other.
How African companies and governments react to this change brought about the platform economy will define their prospects going forward.
The platforms they use will serve as the pathways to the new digital economies that will drive growth and jobs across the continent. They will form the pillars of entire value chains in the future and so African companies need to ensure they make these decisions wisely – and fast because there is no doubt that the digital partnerships African companies make today will determine how successful they will be tomorrow.
Platform economy is one of the topics to be discussed at the Accenture Innovation Conference taking place on 17 October in Johannesburg.
Large investments in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies could lead to the development of bubbles, according to Børge Brende, president, World Economic Forum (WEF).
Børge Brende, president, World Economic Forum
“There is definitely a geopolitical disorder … But even in the situation of geopolitical disorder, the global economy has been incredibly resilient – not necessarily in Europe but in India, China and the USA,” Brende said in Berlin.
He noted that this was being fuelled by investments in new technologies like AI.
“This year has seen $US500 billion ($A762 billion) of investments in AI alone. So, what we can be worried about is that there may be bubbles developing, be it a bubble on crypto or an AI bubble,” Brende said.
The WEF head said investors need to be patient with these investments.
But he also said that frontier technologies would be the new drivers of growth.
“We will also need to make sure that the new technologies and the benefits trickle down. We could even see productivity gains of 10 per cent in the coming decade. And productivity is prosperity,” Brende said.
He described the new technologies as “a big paradigm shift” and predicted breakthroughs in medicine, synthetical biology, space and energy.
“AI can accelerate processes so quickly,” he said.
The Norwegian has taken over from WEF founder Klaus Schwab.
The forum holds an annual conference in Davos in the Swiss Alps attended by world political and economic leaders.
The 56th conference is scheduled for January 19-23, 2026.
Brende also expressed concern about global crises and conflicts.
“There is definitely a geopolitical disorder: the world order we had is not there anymore. What is the next world order? Hopefully not the law of the jungle,” he said.
And, in a reference to current US tariff policy, he said that uncertainty was the highest tariff.
“One of my worries is that global investments are going down. We need to re-establish an environment for investments,” he said.
Brende said the current competition between the United States and China was “basically a competition for hegemony or dominance in technology. The country that leads in new technologies – be it quantum, superintelligence, AI, autonomous vehicles or synthetical biology – will also be the most powerful nation coming out of this century,” he predicted.
And he called for multilateral action to deal with “problems that don’t travel with a passport,” including pandemics and cybercrime.
The world is becoming more complicated with different groups forming, Brende said.
He pointed to a G4 of the US, China, Europe and India, followed by fast-growing economies like Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Brazil.
“It’s going to be a renaissance for mega-regional, so-called plurilateral, deals. But the world is going to be more complicated. There are going to be more suboptimal, not necessarily cost-effective solutions. There is going to be more friendshoring,” he said.
Facebook, a social media platform owned by Meta, hosted its first-ever Facebook Lounge experience at Lagos Fashion Week 2025, creating an immersive space that celebrated creativity, connection and community among young adults, designers, fashion enthusiasts and creators.
Betty Ansah, Nonye Udeogu and Oluwasola Obagbemi at the Facebook lounge
The three-day event featured interactive sessions, live interviews and engaging activities aimed at showcasing how Facebook tools such as Marketplace, Reels, Groups and Meta AI are helping Nigerian creators build communities and turn their passions into opportunities.
Oluwasola Obagbemi, Meta’s Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa, said Facebook continues to be a leading platform for conversations around cultural moments in Nigeria and globally.
“Events like Lagos Fashion Week highlight how our platform brings people together to celebrate creativity, culture and community in real time,” she said.
Obagbemi noted that fashion is now the largest category on Facebook Marketplace in Nigeria, with young adults increasingly using the platform to discover new interests and express themselves.
The Lounge featured live interviews hosted by media presenter Joseph Onaolapo, popularly known as Jay On-Air, and fashion creator Nonye Udeogu, also known as Thisthingcalledfashion.
The duo engaged guests and online audiences with insights into how creators use Facebook tools to build meaningful connections.
Guests at the Lounge enjoyed photo sessions, Facebook-themed games and the Reels Booth, where attendees captured short-form videos reflecting the energy of Lagos Fashion Week.
Facebook said it remains committed to empowering people to explore their interests, build community and connect with the world in more meaningful ways.
Users’ digital footprints have been building up for years. Social media accounts, old comments, carelessly posted photos, message boards, and old marketplace listings — everything that each individual user has ever shared online remains there, potentially causing serious retroactive issues for the poster.
This information may be of interest to potential employers, government agencies, advertisers, scammers and even exes. HR departments often conduct thorough online background checks on candidates before hiring. Additionally, data obtained through the use of shady services that search for leaked information from data breaches can be used for doxing and harassment purposes.
Kaspersky shares guidelines on how to manage your personal digital footprint and minimise the amount of private information available to everyone online.
Google yourself regularly
By searching for yourself, you’ll first see exactly where you once registered (and perhaps forgot about), and second, you’ll be able to check for any fake or impersonating accounts using your name.
Get rid of old accounts and posts
Once you’ve dealt with the fake accounts and compiled a list of your genuine ones, it’s time to delete the superfluous and outdated ones. Don’t rely entirely on the initial search or your own memory.
Dig deep into your email archives to see which sites and services message you as their user. You can also review the list of saved passwords in your browsers or password managers.
Dealing with shadow profiles
Unfortunately, the accounts you’ve registered are only half the battle. Sometimes social media sites generate shadow profiles containing data on you that may persist even after you delete your account. These profiles can include information you never directly shared with the service. For example, you might have granted the Facebook app access to your phone contacts without ever importing them into your account. All the data from your address book could end up in that shadow profile.
Even more unsettling, sometimes these accounts get created for users who’ve never even registered with the service, by gathering data from other platforms and open sources. While it’s nearly impossible to completely prevent shadow profiles from being created, you can minimise the damage. Go through your old apps and revoke their access to your sensitive data — things like your camera, photos, contacts, location, and so on. Going forward, meticulously monitor which permissions you grant to each new app.
Set up data breach notifications
Data leaks happen online virtually every day, exposing massive amounts of personal data: IP addresses, names, phone numbers, email addresses, payment info, and much more. Websites like Have I Been Pwned allow you to enter your email and get alerts if it shows up in a new leaked database.
However, for a comprehensive approach and greater convenience, it’s best to monitor leaks through Kaspersky Premium — we search for breaches using both email addresses and phone numbers.
You can add all your email addresses and phone numbers (for yourself and your family) and be confident that we’ll warn you about a breach almost immediately, thanks to the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) – our global threat intelligence infrastructure.
Unfortunately, preventing leaks single-handedly is an impossible task for the average user. So, the best defence is to limit how much personal data you share when registering new accounts.
Clean up your inbox
An email inbox overflowing with old messages that contain private information is also part of your digital footprint. Go through your mail using keywords like “password”, “SSN”, or “account”, and delete any emails containing this sensitive data. Unsubscribe from old mailing lists. This lowers the chance that your email address will leak from a marketer’s database.
Erase local traces
Don’t forget to regularly — at least once a month — clear your browser history, cookies, and cache on all your devices. Alternatively, set up your browser to clear this data automatically when you close it. This lessens the chance of an outsider collecting information from your device if they gain access to it.
On smartphones, it’s advised to disable or periodically reset your advertising identifier.
Review your privacy settings
You can check and adjust privacy and security settings through our free service, Privacy Checker. It will guide you on how to configure popular social platforms, services, and even operating systems to your desired level of privacy.
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