Daniel Silke

Tech entrepreneur should capitalise on the vast investment opportunities that lie in SA and the African continent.

So said Daniel Silke, an independent political analyst, in a keynote address at the recent Cisco CxO Forum, hosted in partnership with ITWeb, in Bryanston.

According to Silke, the world is going through global power shifts that have seen emerging markets become centres of both economic growth and geo-political decision-making.

Thanks to the rise of a robust middle class on the African continent, Silke believes that by 2030, Africa’s economy will be larger than China’s. “At present, Africa’s gross national income is more than India’s, while 12 of the richest African nations’ gross national income is more than China’s,” he said.

The rise of the African urban consumer, Silke explained, will also result in a higher demand for tech commodities on the continent. “About 28 million Africans will have discretionary income by 2020, while the continent’s top 18 cities will have the spending power of $1.3 trillion.”

He urged entrepreneurs to focus their investments on technology, as citizens are demanding more of it. He singled out broadband speeds, like 4G networks, as a critical investment area.

Revealing the continent’s developments on the mobile front, Silke pointed out that this year, the number of African people with access to mobile devices will surpass those with access to electricity.

Africa has 139 million Internet users, according to the Internet World Statistics, he revealed, adding that in 2000, it was a meagre 45 million. “Out of these 139 million users, 37 million have Facebook accounts,” he said.

Silke also predicted a huge uptick in demand for IT consumer goods in SA over the coming years, saying 70% of South Africans experience upward income migration every year.

“South Africa’s black middle class is now at 10 million and the number of upper-income black households is now growing at more than 20% per annum. About 600 000 households will move off the bottom rung income category over the next two years. The incomes of black South Africans have increased by 235% since 1996.”

He also revealed that the 453 000 new jobs created in SA in the fourth quarter of 2011 was the highest year-on-year growth observed by Statistics SA in the formal sector since 2009.

Commenting on the local Internet standings, Silke noted that 39% of urban South Africans and 27% of rural users are now browsing the Internet using their mobile phones.

“At least seven million South Africans now have Internet access on their phones. Nigeria has the most Internet users in Africa, with 44 million users; Egypt is in second place with 20 million; Morocco third with 13 million; and SA is fourth with seven million,” he pointed out.

VIDEO OPPORTUNITIES

Also speaking at the event was Allan Bjornstad, director of emerging collaboration partners at Cisco, who presented on the role of video-conferencing in the workplace. Video collaboration is reinventing the workplace by allowing people to meet virtually, efficiently and reliably from nearly any point on the globe, he explained. Among other benefits, Bjornstad pointed out that video collaboration helps businesses through reduced travel, which saves time and costs, and reduces carbon emissions.

He added that the technology is also useful in building trust, improving group collaboration, and increasing competitive advantage.

Citing a recent Cisco survey, Bjornstad revealed the majority of frequent users of video-conferencing said collaboration technologies saved them at least two hours of valuable work time a week.

On the other hand, only 33% of non-users believe they could save time using the technology. “These results demonstrate a significant gap between user and non-user perceptions,” he pointed out.

Bjornstad also revealed that workers who frequently use the technology overwhelmingly value some of the qualitative benefits more than non-users; for example, improving work-life balance, increasing competitive advantage, and bringing people closer together.

During his presentation, Bjornstad also demonstrated one of Cisco’s video-conferencing solutions to communicate with colleagues in Norway, where he is based.

However, though most participants were fascinated with the solution, some questioned the cost implications with regards to bandwidth use as well as the rationale of using such a solution in place of platforms like Skype.

Bjornstad said that although using video-conferencing might be bandwidth-intensive, the overall savings realised from avoiding travel and accommodation costs far outweigh bandwidth costs.

He also explained that, although the Skype platform is similar to the solution he had demonstrated, the former was not secure and could be easily intercepted by hackers, while the latter was secure and more suitable for corporate use.