Tag: Enterprise Services
A business that isn’t online is a business that misses a world of opportunities.
Today, potential customers and collaborators are just as likely to ask for your Instagram handle as they are to ask for your business card. Even if the products or services offered have nothing to do with the digital world, an online presence is expected. As access to the internet grows across the continent, more African entrepreneurs are able to bring their businesses online. The benefits of a connected continent are far reaching, making a positive impact on more than 4 million SMEs and the people who rely on these small businesses to make a living.
We’ve even started to provide micro-loans to help grow small businesses on the continent
Connectivity Enables Digital Marketing
If nobody knows about your business, nobody can support it. Our current world is one where word gets around digitally, and at an alarmingly fast pace. Digital marketing is essential in building a brand and growing a customer base. A mix of paid advertising and social media content can be used in powerful ways, and African businesses are finding new ways to grab customer attention every day. Content is king when it comes to marketing a brand online, and budgets to create content needn’t be large when the idea is unique or attention grabbing. Digital Odyssey recently rounded up a few viral marketing campaigns which came straight out of Africa, and we expect to see much more in the next few years as connectivity on the continent increases.
Connectivity Enables Financial Inclusion
We’ve spoken at length of the benefits of Mobile Money for African businesses in previous Spotlights, and none of those benefits would be accessible if it wasn’t for connectivity. SMEs that accept Mobile Money payments for their products and services are gaining more customers – those who don’t have access to traditional financial services. For entrepreneurs who want to reach customers beyond physical borders, connectivity creates the opportunity to build online stores and brings an e-commerce element to African businesses.
Connectivity Enables Funding
Finding investors is easier today than it has ever been. Sending pitch documents, setting up crowdfunding pages and hosting meetings online are all possible because of connectivity. African businesses or entrepreneurs with lucrative ideas aren’t limited to the people in their physical surroundings as a source of funding when their online presence is comprehensive.
Connectivity Enables a Successful Future
School-aged learners are encouraged to become entrepreneurs when they leave school, and being digitally savvy will give these learners a necessary edge to compete with global players. Access to technology is essential for African youth who want to be entrepreneurs, so we’ve donated more than 925 multi-media centres and digital classrooms to schools across 12 of our markets. By doing so, we are equipping our youth for a successful future and the opportunity to become competitive on a global scale.
If you were to travel back in time, just a few decades, how would you begin to explain to people of the past what the world is like today?
Would you start by explaining that our phones are in our pockets and not permanently attached to a cable in the wall? Would you talk about the existence of an app which can turn any home into accommodation? How would you explain the way jobs have evolved? So many popular careers today simply did not exist a few short years ago.
The creation of the digital world has led to the creation of countless jobs. Before Facebook or LinkedIn, there was no social media manager. Before Google Adwords, there was no digital marketer. Today, digitally focused companies are among the most successful in the world.
Our API portal is currently used by 1000 young developers who want to improve or add to existing online solutions.
In regions where there always seem to be more people than jobs available, the digital world provides an additional avenue for employment. As more youth in Africa choose to take digitally enabled career paths, coding online platforms and innovating solutions, they are creating more opportunities for the people around them.
The very nature of today’s youth, with their innate understanding of all things trending and tech-related, could be the key to aiding unemployment in Africa. Entrepreneurship is encouraged across the continent in order to create more jobs and reduce unemployment for youth who have completed their studies. (note: link to African Entrepreneurs are Benefitting from franchises) Even Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, feels that African youth should be encouraged to create their own start-ups and get a tax break from the government for doing so.
African start-ups are already thriving so much that investors are flocking to events like AfricArena to discover new innovations coming from the continent. Companies like South African based Aerobotics are providing artificial intelligence solutions to clients all over the world. The ripple effect of the rise of such start-ups is the creation of new jobs for people in Africa.
As connectivity improves throughout the continent, access to digital services and tools become more easily available. With a public API’s becoming accessible at a rapid pace, youth in Africa have more opportunities to create more digital solutions. Our API portal is currently used by 1000 young developers who want to improve or add to existing online solutions. When the youth code, they create jobs for those who cannot.
Consider all the roles involved in building an online store. A graphic designer and copy writer are both essential for a developer who wants to build an aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly website. Products need to be created to sell on the online store, providing an employment opportunity for those who can create. When products are ordered, they need to be delivered to customers, which produces an additional set of jobs involving logistics. One simple website can become the source of employment for many. Even those who aren’t considered tech-savvy.
The future of jobs has already begun, and as our digital world evolves, we are likely to see even more jobs in the future which we cannot imagine today. Technology and job creation certainly are good together!
MTN Group is the first African telecommunications company to join the IoT World Alliance, the leading enabler of connected IoT solutions Johannesburg – Telecommunications operator, MTN Group is proud to announce that it is the first African telecommunications company to join the IoT World Alliance. IoT World Alliance is a collaboration of established mobile network operators which aims to adopt and run a globally connected business through well-executed and smart business decisions.
Multinational corporations planning to roll out connected devices worldwide face a multitude of hurdles. As the largest mobile operator cooperative in the world, the IoT World Alliance aims to eliminate the complexity associated with worldwide deployments of connected devices.
The Alliance provides a global solution aimed at simplifying and promoting the adoption of IoT communications worldwide. The unique solution leverages the operators’ combined global presence to the benefit of customers.
MTN Group Executive for Enterprise Business, Oliver Fortuin said “We are very proud to be a member of the Alliance, not only do we join a community of like-minded telecommunications companies committed to making global connectivity cheaper and simpler, but as MTN we believe this partnership supports our efforts to deliver on our core belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life.”
Commenting on the partnership, IoT World Alliance Chairman Mark van den Berg said, “We are pleased to have MTN on board, and look forward to leveraging the scale and reach that MTN has in Africa and parts of the Middle East. I think it is an exciting and long overdue partnership not only for MTN Group but also for IoT World Alliance as we work towards enabling our customers’ IoT device connectivity. He added that, “we look forward to a long-lasting partnership and most importantly working together to offer customers the solutions they need when they need them”.
About the IoT World Alliance
The IoT World Alliance is a global collaboration of telecommunications providers dedicated to providing multinational customers with seamless machine-to-machine device connectivity around the world through its Single Global SIM solution. The IoT World Alliance enables businesses to deploy an international IOT solution through a single point of contact, manage a vast number of connected devices through a unified IOT platform, and leverage the reach of the world’s largest IoT partnership. Current members include KPN, NTT DOCOMO, Rogers, SingTel, Telefonica, Telenor Connexion, Telstra, Veon, and DNA.
For more information please visit: www.iotworldalliance.org