Written by Chuck Green, CEO of Helios Towers Africa
The
story of Africa today tells us that sometimes it is better to be a late starter
that to be a pioneer. Pioneers, as they
used to say in the era of cowboys and indians, get all the arrows.
A
generation ago people in the old world would still patronisingly refer to
Africa as the “dark continent”. Now, as
the developed economies struggle, Africa is likely to have seven out of the top
ten fastest growing economies over the next five years, according to the
Economist Intelligence Unit. Africa’s
“lion economies” are growing more strongly than Asia’s “tiger economies”. Africa’s collective GDP is forecast to hit
2.6 trillion dollars by 2020. Africa has
stepped out of the darkness into the spotlight.
In one
industry after another capitalism is alive and well in Africa. Home grown African entrepreneurs are
investing, trading and creating new jobs by the million. The World Bank reckons that by 2015 100
million Africans will have an income of 3,000 dollars or more. As a result, the spending power of the
African consumer is growing while hard pressed European and American consumers
continue grimly to deleverage their debts.
All
across the world information and communications technology has been a driving
force for transforming both the economic growth of nations and the lifestyle of
individuals and families. But, as with
any relatively new innovation, some of the earliest versions quickly became
clunky and outdated and sometimes caused legacy problems that impeded the
development of the next generation of products.
By
arriving at bit late at the party Africa has been free to go directly to the
best products and the most efficient and user-friendly infrastructure. Africa has become home to a disproportionate
share of the estimated two billion people who have a mobile phone but no bank
account. Entrepreneurial investment
right across the continent has facilitated the rapid integration of mobile
technology and financial products.
This is
creating a nonstop stream of new opportunities to serve the consumer, the
neighbourhood and the small business directly – frequently cutting costs by
eliminating the bureaucratic middle man.
Telecom
tower sharing is a classic illustration.
Its arrival proved to be a landmark in Africa’s telecoms sector, acting
as an enabler for the increased use of telephones in rural as well as urban
areas. Much of its attraction is that
tower sharing brings benefits to operators and customers alike. Instead of
having three or four base stations in a village, all running generators
simultaneously, tower sharing allows for a single wireless network and for the
management of power and site maintenance in a much cheaper and more
environmentally friendly way. Telecom
operators can focus on serving their customers rather than looking after their
infrastructure. Customers gain a better
service for less money. The carbon footprint is reduced. Everybody wins.
This
sort of communications development would benefit any part of the globe. But for Africa, with its notoriously dreadful
roads, the telco and towerco revolution is making a transformative impact.
And not
just in mobile banking. For example, telephonic
agro-information is making possible the emergence of “e-farming” – programmes
which bridge the rural divide between the farmer and the remote expert via
programmes that disseminate and share agronomic information and advice through
mobile phones.
Trends
like this mean that investment continues to accelerate, cross-border trade
flourishes, businesses diversify and achieve economies of scale. Millions are being propelled out of poverty
and into the shops. Africa is far from
trouble free, but the evidence from more and more industries indicate that its
greatest days lie ahead.
