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What Can the Rest of the World Learn From Africa’s Approach to Tech and Innovation
By Ndagi Job Goshi, GM of Liferay Africa
When it comes to listing the regions that have embraced and taken the biggest advantage of digital transformation, most commentators wouldn’t put Africa anywhere near the top. And purely based on metrics, they would be right. According to BCG, Africa trails other regions of the world in digital penetration, usage, and capabilities, and its companies are generally less mature than those in more developed markets.
That said, digital maturity levels across the continent are rising rapidly. And, outside of the broad picture, there are examples of African companies using digital transformation in exciting and innovative ways. Within these examples are lessons that can be applied to the rest of the world, not least because they show that digital transformation is an ongoing process and not a “once-and-done” exercise.
You can compete with big multinationals
During the 2010s, the “Africa Rising” narrative — brought about by unprecedented economic growth during a period of relative political stability — saw many multinational companies either enter the continent or expand their existing operations. Despite their considerable heft, however, many have struggled to compete with local companies.
That’s because these companies have been able to combine technology with on-the-ground knowledge to build a real competitive advantage.
Whatever troubles it’s faced in recent years, mobile operator MTN (itself an enabler of digital transformation) was able to enter Nigeria at a time when other international carriers were too afraid to. The other companies that had a chance to bid on spectrum in Nigeria were more focused on the country’s risks than on its opportunities, and as a result they held back. MTN was able to use its experience and data gathering capabilities to establish and grow a massive footprint. Today, MTN is the largest mobile operator in Nigeria and has 64-million internet subscribers.
Globally, smaller companies can similarly use local knowledge, coupled with a focus on digital transformation, to remain competitive amongst much bigger players.
Utilise the technology at hand
For years, many column inches were devoted to how Africa’s high mobile penetration rates (as high as 149% in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa) would allow it to leapfrog more developed markets. More recently, there was a sense that this promise was unfulfilled and that Africa had missed out on its first-mover advantage.
There is evidence, however, that this disparaging view may have been misplaced. More and more African tech startups are being acquired by international companies. Their technologies are then baked into their acquirer’s offerings. Many of these technologies are mobile-based and are built off the back of Africans being willing to experiment and adopt new technologies that people in more developed markets might be willing to try.
Startups aren’t the only ones innovating either. Financial services giant Discovery perfected its Vitality rewards programme in South Africa, progressively integrating it with new technologies (including smartphone apps and wearables), sometimes years before its competitors. This success then allowed it to expand the programme internationally to more than 20-million users in countries like the UK, Canada, and China.
Customer experience is always crucial
When it comes to the areas in which African companies lead their international competitors on BCG’s digital maturity index, one observation stands out:
In businesses where customer-centricity is key (such as banking and telecoms), African players compete more effectively.
It’s also hardly surprising that these are two sectors where Africa has led the world when it comes to technology-led innovation.
Their success shows how important customer experience is to digital transformation. Some companies might approach digital transformation as a technology project. Implement all the right technologies, the thinking goes, and the organisation will be transformed. When they inevitably don’t get the rewards they were hoping for, they might wonder why they spent all that money and revert back to old ways of doing things.
In truth, digital transformation is more about a mindset shift within organisations than it is about technology adoption. That is, organisations need to embrace the idea that technology can help them better understand and serve the customer, allowing them to create personalised experiences rather than just lumping new technology onto old ways of doing business.
Embracing innovation
Ultimately, while Africa may be less digitally mature than other markets, there can be no doubt that businesses on the continent are unafraid to embrace technology and innovation. And, in the customer-centric ways in which they’ve done so, despite facing adversity and strong headwinds, there are lessons for the rest of the world to learn from the tenacity and ingenuity birthed and nurtured in the African soil.
Bolt, Africa’s leading ride-hailing platform, hosted its Bolt Family Fest in Lagos to honour driver loyalty, reward top performers, and strengthen community ties within its driver network.
As Bolt’s largest market in Nigeria, Lagos served as the ideal location for this vibrant celebration of excellence and shared growth.
The event recognised and rewarded some of Bolt’s longest-serving and still-active drivers, who have been with the platform for 7 to 8 years since the early days when Bolt was known as Taxify.
These veteran drivers were specially recognized and rewarded, each receiving a cash award of ₦200,000 in appreciation of their commitment to the platform and consistent service delivery.
In addition to honouring loyalty, the Bolt Family Fest provided a platform to scale up vehicle branding efforts in the city.
The on-site branding process was made easy and accessible for drivers, while attractive incentives including branded merchandise, gift bags, and raffle entries encouraged participation.
A key highlight of the day was a lucky dip giveaway, where two lucky drivers, one newly branded and one previously branded each walked away with a brand-new SmartTV.
Osi Oguah, General Manager, Bolt Nigeria said: “Our drivers are the heart of everything we do at Bolt, and this event is our way of saying thank you for their dedication and professionalism. We’re not just building a platform, we’re building a family.
“The Bolt Family Fest is about creating moments of connection and showing our drivers they are seen, appreciated, and celebrated.”
The event delivered multiple wins for Bolt including increased the number of branded vehicles in Lagos, enhanced Bolt’s street-level visibility across the city and strengthened the sense of unity and pride within the driver community.
MultiChoice is reportedly testing weekly subscription plans in Uganda, aiming to ease financial pressure on customers struggling with monthly payments.
If successful, the pay-TV giant may expand the model to other African markets as it fights to retain subscribers amid economic challenges, according to the Sunday Times.
The company, which operates in 16 African countries, has seen its subscriber base shrink by 1.2 million in the past year, dropping to 14.5 million.
Half of those losses came from South Africa, where high unemployment and rising living costs have forced households to cut discretionary spending, including DStv subscriptions.
Calvo Mawela, group CEO, MultiChoice, confirmed the weekly subscription trial has been running for seven weeks.
“Within three to six months, we’ll have a good idea if it’s working,” he told the Sunday Times.
“If successful, we’ll expand it to other markets. We believe this approach can help customers in the same way prepaid mobile services revolutionized telecoms.”
MultiChoice faces financial strain from currency depreciation in key markets like Nigeria, Angola, and Ghana, alongside rising inflation.
In South Africa, economic stagnation has further squeezed consumer budgets.
Despite a recent 31% price hike in Nigeria, Mawela remains optimistic, noting that the naira has stabilized and subscriber recovery may follow.
While the new payment option could improve affordability, Mawela dismissed the idea of letting users customize channel bundles, stating, “We still don’t think it works.”
However, MultiChoice is researching tiered packages, including separate sports and entertainment offerings, to boost revenue.
The company is also streamlining costs, targeting R2 billion in savings by 2026 through reduced satellite expenses, better content deals, and fewer decoder subsidies.
As broadband penetration grows, MultiChoice reports a 38% surge in DStv Stream users.
However, its standalone streaming platform, Showmax, has underperformed initial expectations despite a 44% increase in paying subscribers. Mawela admitted the venture’s high costs are unsustainable, prompting talks with partner Comcast NBCUniversal to adjust funding.
“Streaming is the future, but data prices must improve for it to thrive in Africa,” MultiChoice stated.
For now, the company hopes flexible subscriptions and cost controls will stabilize its business as it navigates a tough economic climate.
MultiChoice Nigeria’s subscription revenue declined by 44 per cent to $197.74m in the financial year ended March 2025, down from $355.93m recorded in the same period a year earlier, as rising inflation and a worsening economic climate triggered a mass exit of subscribers.
The sharp revenue drop was driven by “sizeable customer losses in Nigeria as high inflation adds more pressure on consumers,” the company said in its latest financial report. Inflation stood at 23.71 per cent in April 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The pay-TV provider has lost 1.4 million subscribers in Nigeria since its financial year ended in March 2023.
Nigeria alone accounted for 77 per cent of the 1.8 million subscribers lost across MultiChoice’s Rest of Africa segment, which includes markets such as Kenya, Zambia, and Angola.
Between April and September 2024, the company lost 243,000 subscribers in Nigeria, as macroeconomic and consumer conditions deteriorated further.
At the close of its 2025 fiscal year, MultiChoice reported 14.5 million total subscribers, with 7.5 million of them in RoA. The group attributed part of the overall decline in performance to foreign exchange losses resulting from a 44 per cent depreciation of the naira against the US dollar.
MultiChoice said it incurred foreign exchange losses of $158.19m and managed to remit only $133m from Nigeria at an average exchange rate of N1,589 per dollar, compared to $184m at N1,044 per dollar in the previous year.
“Nigeria’s economic challenges had a significant impact on our Rest of Africa operations, contributing to a 23 per cent drop in RoA subscription revenue to $779.66m,” said Chief Executive Officer, MultiChoice Group, Calvo Mawela.
Total subscription revenue, including South Africa, declined by 11 per cent year-on-year to $2.27bn. Overall group revenue fell nine per cent to $2.87bn, while operating profit declined by 34 per cent to $263.50m. Trading profit dropped by nearly half to $228.14m.
“Our performance reflects both the challenges we’ve faced and the resilience of our teams,” said Mawela. “While macroeconomic pressures and currency volatility have weighed on our results, our disciplined execution, cost management, and investment in new long-term growth opportunities position us well for the future.”
In spite of its declining linear subscriber base, down 2.8 million across two financial years, MultiChoice reported notable growth in its digital and streaming businesses.
DStv Internet revenue rose 85 per cent, KingMakers grew by 76 per cent in constant currency, DStv Stream increased 48 per cent, and Showmax saw a 44 per cent year-on-year rise in active paying customers.
“Our strategy is shaped by developments in our industry, such as changes in technology which are driving shifts in consumer behaviour, as well as the impact of a rise in piracy, streaming services, and social media,” Mawela said.
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