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.
E-Business
Hydrogen Hosts Catalyst Workshop, Highlights Resilient Business Models for Fintech Startups
As part of its mission to empower African businesses with tools needed to thrive, garner admiration, and foster global acclaim, leading payment solution company, Hydrogen Payment Services Company Limited (Hydrogen), recently partnered with the Co Creation Hub (CcHub), to host the latest edition of the Catalyst workshop in Lagos.
The discourse addressed the potential risks and opportunities for startups and saw experts advise participants on the need to develop resilient business models that would scale across different economic climes.
Moderated by Miracle Ezechi, Digital Marketing Manager, Hydrogen, the panel session addressed dominant issues about the theme: ‘Adapting Fintech Business Models to Economic Climes: Flexibility, Agility and Customer-centricity’.
Mr. Emeka Awagu, Chief Technology Officer, Hydrogen, who spoke as a panellist, addressed the issue of customer-centricity, which according to him, is key to Fintech growth.
He advised startups to listen to customer demands and understand their needs in order to develop the right solutions that will lead to long term market viability.
“Innovation is key for startup growth. However, understanding customers’ needs and change in behaviour will help any startup to innovate better.
“Startups must be flexible and agile to develop solutions with high interoperability and processing speed, and they must be ready to learn from startups that have failed,” Awagu said.
With an estimated 61.07 percent of startups failing, the participants stressed the need for prudence.
“Statistically, a staggering number of startups fail, often due to financial mismanagement. Hence, founders must prioritise understanding and maintaining a healthy the Cost-to-Earnings ratio.
“It is not just a number, but a pivotal indicator of a company’s financial health as well as being a key attractiveness determinant for investors,” Awagu added.
On his part, Ina Alogwu, the Group Director, Digital Transformation, ARM HOLDCO, who also spoke as a panellist at the session, stressed the need for startups to develop sustainable products and solutions that will help them remain competitive in an environment that is faced with harsh economic realities.
“Many startup businesses fail within their first five years, however upcoming startups should not be discouraged, rather develop a culture that will encourage them to understand the reasons for failure and learn from mistakes.
“Startups should not be too rigid with their solutions and should be ready to accept changes that will drive innovation,” Alogwu stated.
Hydrogen will be deepening its economic impact series with a webinar planned for Thursday, April 25, even as businesses across Africa continue to face an array of challenges, ranging from inflation and currency fluctuations to rising operating costs.
Themed ‘Navigating Economic Challenges: Strategies for Sustainable Growth,’ the webinar will delve into key areas critical for businesses to not only survive but thrive in the face of economic adversity. Register using this link – https://bit.ly/Hydrogenwebinar.
Esteemed panellists for this event include Taofik Odukoya, CEO, Vanguard Pharmacy, and Okechukwu Odimgbe, Chief Financial Officer, Hydrogen. The session will be moderated by Nnenna Sam-Obioha, Ecosystem Orchestrator, Hydrogen.
Dexude, a leading edtech platform with operations in Nigeria, has announced that it has been awarded the prestigious Business Finland TEMPO funding.
Charles Emembolu, founder of Dexude,
This significant funding injection marks a pivotal moment in Dexude’s journey towards transforming education through its AI-powered, live-first, expert-led, and community-driven platform.
The Business Finland TEMPO funding is specifically designed to support startups and SMEs aiming for international growth by building their expertise and solutions into international success stories in innovative ways.
Dexude’s commitment to innovation, coupled with its vision to enable a billion learners worldwide, aligns perfectly with the objectives of the TEMPO funding.
Commenting on this milestone achievement, Charles Emembolu, founder of Dexude, remarked, “We are incredibly honored and excited to receive the Business Finland TEMPO funding. This funding is not only a validation of Dexude’s mission to reinvent education but also a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. With this support, we are poised to accelerate our efforts in democratizing access to quality education and empowering learners across Nigeria and beyond.”
L-r; Kelvin Chikezie, co-founder of Dexude; Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); and Charles Emembolu, founder of Dexude
Kelvin Chikezie, co-founder of Dexude, added, “Securing the Business Finland TEMPO funding is a significant milestone for Dexude. It underscores our commitment to leveraging technology and innovation to revolutionize the way people learn and grow. We are grateful to Business Finland for believing in our vision, and we are excited to embark on this next chapter of Dexude’s journey.”
Dexude is on a mission to redefine education by providing learners with access to influential experts and thought leaders, live interactions, and a vibrant community-driven learning experience.
Through its platform, Dexude aims to break down barriers to learning and empower individuals to pursue their passions and unlock their full potential.
SOPHiA GENETICS, a cloud-native software company in the healthcare space and a leader in data-driven medicine, has announced that Nigeria-based Syndicate Bio has signed on to implement MSK-ACCESS® powered with SOPHiA DDM™.
Syndicate Bio is the first lab in Africa to adopt the MSK-ACCESS® assay via the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform, and the first company to make comprehensive genomic profiling and liquid biopsy widely available to patients throughout the entire continent.
The implementation of this new technology will further existing work from SOPHiA GENETICS, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and Syndicate Bio to advance health equity on a global scale.
There are roughly 1 million new cancer patients each year in Africa and currently, comprehensive genomic profiling and liquid biopsy testing options are not widely available.
This means that patients are forced to forego this testing or travel out of continent for these testing options. Syndicate Bio’s implementation of this new offering will provide cutting-edge liquid biopsy testing to many of these patients and will help progress the company’s goal of advancing genomics and precision medicine in an area of the world that has been historically underserved in these areas.
“Partnering with SOPHiA Genetics to bring MSK-ACCESS® powered with SOPHiA DDM™ to our lab is a monumental step in accelerating the cancer treatment and research landscape across Africa, beginning in Nigeria. Next-generation sequencing technologies in oncology and liquid biopsy, which this collaboration enables, hold the potential for creating a leapfrogging opportunity in the oncology treatment and research landscape in Africa,” said Abasi Ene-Obong, PhD., Founder, Syndicate Bio.
“Through this collaboration, we aim to enable the widespread application of precision medicine in oncology across Africa, and thus contributing to the improvement of patient outcomes across the African continent.
“We believe our scientific expertise, combined with AI-enabled technologies and data-driven solutions enabled by SOPHiA GENETICS, presents a unique opportunity to fundamentally transform the journey of cancer patients through non-invasive cancer analysis, predictive genetic testing, and effective precision medicine.”
Syndicate Bio is driving genomics and precision medicine initiatives across the world’s most diverse regions through large-scale partnerships with governments, industry, and other stakeholders. Through its work, Syndicate Bio is making local impact while accelerating drug discovery and development.
By focusing on Africa, Syndicate Bio is poised to make a significant impact, starting with Nigeria, by introducing its pioneering clinical oncology offerings in an underserved region.
Through this endeavor, Syndicate Bio aims to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment for African patients. This initiative not only facilitates local next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing and liquid biopsy testing but also extends access to clinical trial participation, empowering patients and healthcare providers alike.
MSK-ACCESS® powered with SOPHiA DDM™ is a decentralized version of a highly validated ctDNA test developed by MSK that involves the deep sequencing of 146 key cancer-associated genes, and will augment Syndicate Bio’s tumor profiling capabilities, allowing them to utilize a small blood sample to generate a comprehensive report in an efficient and expedited time frame.
The use of liquid biopsy is less invasive than traditional biopsy, and can help simplify patient monitoring, whilst driving the uptake of precision medicine.
The offering combines the sophisticated analytics, state-of-the-art algorithms, and decentralized, cloud-based offerings of the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform, with the scientific and clinical expertise of MSK in cancer genomics to provide a best-in-class liquid biopsy solution.
“In our mission to democratize data-driven medicine, our decentralized global network and unique set of partnerships enable us to help reach underserved populations, just as those that are served by Syndicate Bio,” said Philippe Menu, MD, PhD., Chief Medical Officer, SOPHiA GENETICS.
“By implementing this solution, Syndicate Bio will make a measurable impact throughout Africa, while also helping to generate an unparalleled and comprehensive dataset and provide invaluable insights and knowledge to shape the future of global healthcare.”
In late 2023, SOPHiA GENETICS and MSK announced they are working in partnership with AstraZeneca to bring the world-class MSK-ACCESS® powered with SOPHiA DDM™ testing solution to countries and regions around the globe, including underserved areas where access to testing remains scarce.
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