AfricaLead with Veronica Motloutsi

Africa must embrace digital revolution Part 1 In order for African countries to leapfrog and lead, our policies should be forward-looking, aimed to enable countries and citizens to reap the benefits of new technologies, improving lives and livelihoods of many and furthering social inclusion.  Digital technologies bring the benefits traditionally available only to the “few” to the “many,” in a digital world; an individual or small business can attract an audience or a market and compete with the largest players. Figure 1 : GSMA 2017 According to GSMA (2017) If the positive trends of recent years continue (or accelerate), the effects could be beneficial for all. The developed and developing world will see increased economic productivity and growth and the quality of life will improve owing to better accessibility to high quality education, better access to information and rising quality of life-bettering services. While digitalisation will do away with some “legacy” ...

Changing our narrative, putting digital at the Core   In 2009 through my MBA global module at Gordon Institute of Business Science, South Africa, I visited China, Asia’s powerhouse.  I was so naive, and wanted to understand what made this country as power house.  As we continued with engagement with academic, business and government institutions, I leant about their National 100 year plan on Africa.  The longest plan that I know is 10 year long, but 100 years!.  Our countries national development plans do not even demonstrate that forward thinking.  China plan focused more on infrastructure development, and commodities.   I was not comfortable; this had really left a dark mark in my heart.  As I visit many african countries, I see the realization of that plan, unfortunately the story is not good. In 2012, I participate in a fellowship programme offered by the US Department of state, aimed to build relationship and expose future ...

Building University of Africa - Leading with Digital In most African countries education is a big deal right?   Billions of dollars invested in education on annually clearly shows that there is interest.  Education is also a priority in most countries’ national strategic documents,   however we are still faced with challenges in the educational sector. The #feesMustFall movement in South Africa stirred up debates on inclusive education.  Across the continent educational quality remains a serious challenge.  Shortage of basic facilities and learning materials are order of the day.  Will digital innovation in the educational sector address some of these challenges? Not some but all, yes all. Do we need an institution that will embrace inclusive education.  Inclusive in this case is defined as accommodating everyone in-spite of their cultural, financial, geographical background. South Africa, like most African countries, the policy makers ha...

Africa is ready for the next wave of digital disruption By Veronica Motloutsi – in her personal capacity While in Kinshasa, a city determined to make a full recovery and heal the scars of years of conflict and civil war, I thought of one thing which is what will make this city leapfrog and readies itself to join other African countries as a fascinating destination.  What kind of innovation while propel this city to move forward.  This is not the challenge only for Kinshasa but for many African cities. What not to like about a city controlled by enormous robots, complete with arms, legs and smiling faces. Africa’s socio-economic challenges forces will soon forces the country to be the early adopter of technology.  In the era of digital disruption, Africa, has responded very well in terms of the adoption of new innovation breakthrough.  Our continent is embracing technological, most especially the digital.  This disruption will work in ...

Veronica Mmakoma Motloutsi: The fourth Industrial Revolution : Introduction According to the World Economic Forum,  We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally al...

Introduction According to the World Economic Forum,  We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society. The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines be...

Good CXX leads to revenue because customers don’t churn, buy more or get other customers to buy. But most companies cannot measure those behaviors at the individual customer level. And even if they could, they’d still not know the quality of each customer’s customer experience. And data isn’t available in a format that allows firms to correlate both (Jeanne Bliss) Read an interesting blog from Jeanne Bliss