Recent socioeconomic progress in Africa has occurred in the context of ubiquitous information and communications technologies (ICTs). According to the International Telecommunication Union 2021 data, 67 percent of African population, estimated to be about 1.13 billion, now has mobile phones and 26.5 percent are now using the Internet. Policymakers and African development partners foresee a lot of possibilities in the opportunities made available by ICTs in the continent’s effort to stem widespread poverty and in the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in that effort. In this context, over the last decade, African countries placed high priority on the development and implementation of national ICT policies and plans.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), SMEs account for 60 to 70 per cent of all employment in developing countries, and hence contribute to poverty reduction. In this regard, many countries in Africa have given high priority to the growth of SMEs. Kenya, for instance, released a major strategic plan, known as Vision 2030, in which ICTs and SMEs have been identified as major driving forces for its realisation. Similarly, Ethiopia, in its Growth and Transformation Plan has given top priority to micro and small enterprises, targeting to create employment opportunities for more than three million people and aiming to boost access to ICTs.
In recent years, the role of SMEs in economic development has grown in importance in Africa as the continent’s economic transformation gained momentum. Many countries are directing their strategic development towards industrialization through the growth of the local SME sector. The importance of SMEs in development and poverty reduction cannot be over emphasised.
According to UNCTAD recent data, these enterprises represent 99 per cent of all firms in developing countries, as well as play a significant role in creating employment opportunities. Another key factor supporting the need to focus on SMEs is that they tend to adapt more easily to technology compared to large enterprises. The adaption process in large enterprises is often slowed by a bureaucracy and a stricter hierarchy involved in making decisions. When SMEs are able to see the added benefits of using ICTs, they are more willing to adapt their businesses strategies.
The results of two e-commerce readiness assessments carried out in the Gambia and in Ethiopia under the Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) strengthen this proposition. Both studies suggest that there is general awareness of the potential in using the Internet for commerce among SMEs. Furthermore, due to widespread coverage and use of mobile phones, mobile commerce now provides more opportunities for SMEs, especially in rural areas.
For example, a study found that after remote communities in Uganda were provided with access to a mobile network, the share of bananas sold rose from 50 to 69 per cent of the crop. Established by TradeNet, Esoko, a company in Ghana, provides a mobile and web-enabled repository of current market prices and a platform to enable buyers and sellers to make offers and connect to one another. The World Bank report revealed that in this regard, a recent study of farmers with small landholdings in northern Ghana found that farmers had experienced a 10 per cent increase in revenue after they began receiving market prices from Esoko in the form of a short message service (SMS).
Goldman Sachs reported that globally, e-commerce sales are growing more than 19 per cent a year. Compared to large enterprises, SMEs have a low share of the global e-commerce market, however, they are increasingly adapting to the growing technological revolution and benefiting from the global online market.
E-commerce involves the sale or purchase of goods and services by businesses (business to business), individuals (business to consumer), governments (business to government) or other organizations, and is conducted over computer networks. It builds on traditional commerce by adding the flexibility and speed offered by electronic communications. This can facilitate efforts to enhance operations that lead to substantial cost savings, as well as increased competitiveness and efficiency through the redesign of traditional business methods.
Different studies indicated that both SMEs and large businesses have benefited from the adoption of e-commerce. Such benefits, inter alia, includes lower transaction costs; reduction in advertising and promotion costs; rapid communication between buyers and sellers; ability to reach new customers; shortening the traditional supply chains, including minimising transport obstacles and reducing delivery costs; and eliminating physical limitation of time and space. Empirical research shows that small enterprises that adopt e-commerce perform better than those that do not adopt it due to e-commerce’s catalytic effect on business performances.
There are several explanations for the slow diffusion of e-commerce in developing countries, in general, and in Africa, in particular. Economic Commission of Africa (ECA)-supported e-commerce readiness studies conducted in Ethiopia and in the Gambia, as well as other studies undertaken across the continent, broadly identify similar challenges pertaining to growth of e-commerce in Africa.
Affordable ICT infrastructure, particularly the Internet and broadband, is one of the key factors affecting the growth of e-commerce. Digital literacy among consumers and businesses in terms of computer literacy, language barriers, awareness of e-commerce benefits, lack of confidence and security in online transactions, including lack of a skilled workforce in e-commerce enterprises, are common in many countries. Limited delivery and distribution networks (physical transportation), in both Ethiopia and the Gambia, and the absence of proper street addressing and naming were raised as areas of concern in delivery.
Systems related to electronic payment, branding/recognition, and the issue of tracking, monitoring and taxation systems are also some of the challenges that affect the online transaction process. Legal frameworks to build security and trust are common issues that both consumers and businesses find difficult in adapting e-commerce as their business strategic tool. Ensuring legal and regulatory environments are critical for the complete functioning of e-commerce in a country.
Many SMEs have benefited from ICTs in their day-to-day business activities, including experiencing gains in enhanced productivity. However, due to lack and cost of access to Internet connectivity, many SMEs are not always tapping the full potential of the Internet. Furthermore, high-quality and reliable e-commerce requires advanced telecom services, such as broadband and mobile broadband services, at affordable prices to consumers.
Thus, governments and other partners need to take advantage of the opportunities that are emerging in the use of the new ICT landscape, particularly in innovations in mobile applications. Governments need to ensure that SMEs benefit not only from being connected to the Internet but also from any technological evolution that can increase the speed of data flows and can help reduce costs to consumers. Furthermore, much of the support to e-commerce depends on putting in place the right infrastructure, regulations and policies for e-commerce to thrive. In this regard, the role of government and the private sector is of paramount importance in realising this. Finally, a critical mass of workers with ICT skills is crucial for the further development of e-commerce and mobile applications. In this regard, governments can play an important role in ensuring that the education systems provide training of the necessary skills for building a viable digital economy.
SMSE and ECommerce
African seed fund for research and education launched
Imperial College London has launched a wide-ranging new seed fund for research and education projects with partners in Africa.
The College will provide funding for collaborations with partners at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) and members of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA). This spans 10 countries: Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
The Africa Strategic Research and Education Partnerships Fund aims to help kick-start new, innovative research and education projects between academics, researchers and students at Imperial, AIMS and ARUA member universities.
The research funding stream will support scientists with exploratory research, small-scale experiments or the development of prototypes.
It will also help academics and students visit a partner institute for up to two months to learn new techniques, analyse results and build stronger networks.
Grammy award-winning reggae band Morgan Heritage announces their first full-scale African tour!
Three-time GRAMMY Award-Winning “Reggae Album of The Year” band, Morgan Heritage, has partnered with Sub-Saharan Africa Live Entertainment mavericks, RAVE, to deliver its first ground-breaking African tour.
The Versatile 3x Grammy Award-winning Reggae group, Morgan Heritage will perform their legendary hits and new material as they embark on their first full-scale African tour. This historic and record-breaking tour titled the “Island Vibes Africa Tour” kicks off on October 2 in Johannesburg, South Africa and will take the acclaimed performers to several nations across West, Central, East and Southern Africa over an 8-week period.
The tour produced and managed by RAVE, a Pan-African live events mavericks, and Morgan Heritage’s CTBC Music Group, a GRAMMY Award-winning entertainment company, will be bringing the vibe and verve of the Caribbean to blend perfectly with the celebrated sounds, colour and vibe of each country stop. Combined with world class production, seamless electronic ticketing, RFID cashless trade experience, bolstered by comprehensive health and safety protocols for large public events.
Whilst on the road, Morgan Heritage will look to discover, interact, and collaborate with some of the freshest and biggest talents in each country to produce a collaborative album as they immerse themselves into the rich and diverse soundscapes of Africa. Morgan Heritage commented that: “Africa has always been home to us, which clearly shows in the immense support we have enjoyed over the years from the continent. This tour is our gift to our brothers and sisters at home. We look forward to entertaining every single fan in every country as we continue to strengthen the shared bonds between Africa and the Caribbean.”
Despite the challenges sometimes associated with executing big ticket events across certain parts of the continent, logistics and infrastructure gaps, including varying health and safety guidelines, RAVE’s wealth of experience will help promoters to overcome and navigate any of such complexities to enable them to create epic fan moments
Ruddy Kwakye, Executive Producer for the tour and Chief Executive Officer of RAVE commented “We look to systematize, scale, and sustain the Live Entertainment ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa through, innovative partnership modelling, technology resourcing and high production values; this tour will allow us to do that and deliver memorable experiences for the fans”
| CITY | COUNTRY | DATE |
| Johannesburg | South Africa | Sunday 2 October 2022 |
| Cape Town | South Africa | Wednesday 5 October 2022 |
| Harare | Zimbabwe | Friday 14 October 2022 |
| Kadoma | Zimbabwe | Saturday 15 October 2022 |
| Lilongwe | Malawi | Saturday 22 October 2022 |
| Addis Ababa | Ethiopia | Saturday 29 October 2022 |
| Accra | Ghana | Saturday 12 November 2022 |
PART II: AFRICAN SOLUTIONS TO AFRICAN PROBLEMS: REBOOT RESTART RESET
A device’s original Operating System (OS) may be likened to African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS). Rebooting AIKS ignites traditional skills, intellect and values honed by the ancestors. It is the foundation of the relationships and rules with environs focusing on natural societal needs such as water, health, sanitation and agriculture. Validation and integration of these traditions in cooperation with Appropriate Technology Development (ATD) and socio-cultural consciousness create African appropriate solutions. In this case, Afrofuturism comes to mind. African-American millennial, Taylor Crumpton writes in Architectural Digest, “Afrofuturism is a fluid ideology shaped by generations of artists, musicians, scholars, and activists… reconstruct(ing) “Blackness”… (it) is a cultural blueprint to guide society. …birthed in the minds of enslaved Africans who prayed for their own and their descendants lives along the horrific Middle Passage. The first Afrofuturists envisioned a society free from the bondages of oppression … evaluat(ing) the past and future to create better conditions for the present generation of Black people through the use of technology, presented through art, music, and literature.”
Though contextualized in a contemporary manner, the ancient land of Abyssinia can be considered a posterchild for Afrofuturism. Colonial machinations couldn’t hault Ethiopian feats nor future such as the 4th century Axum obelisks or the 21st century Blue Nile River – Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The magnificent seven-story 80FT/25M high towers, hand hewn from graphite, prove the advanced artistry, architecture and technical prowess existing to create reliefs of false windows and doors with locks marking underground burial chambers, signifying power and social status. GERD’s 5,000-megawatt electricity capacity may also be seen as an Afrofuturistic blueprint for better conditions, benefitting a new generation and neighboring countries alike. Flow regulation, agricultural advances, water conservation and the creation of bridges will help redefine Ethiopia’s posterity, through ATD while addressing natural needs, just the as ancestors did.
Ingenuity and creativity are also echoed through African music. Dr. Mulatu Astatke declares indigenous people as ‘Scientists of Sound’ creators of wind, string and percussion instruments, reflecting nature’s harmonies. He notes the mid 20th century African-American avantgarde jazz man, Sun Ra aka the God Father of Afrofuturism whose sounds are interstellar yet close to indigenous music. “He is EPIC, lost in space and transporting the African-American population to another planet—very Moses and exodus vibes…”, according to Vice’s Daryoush Haj-Najafi. The music matched his metallic space suits, colorful capes and hats accessorized with huge African-centric jewelry. He positioned himself and Black People in the future saying, “I am not part of their his-story, I am part of the mystery, which is my story.”
Benin artist, Emo de Medierois, shares the sentiment. An Afrofuturistic visual artist traversing techniques, textures and time; he questions Africa’s future, addressing perpetrators and perpetuators of colonialism, equally. His 2015 exhibition in Pavillion Du Benin at Venice Biennale was provocative. He says, “(My) piece was an ironic political commentary about the clandestine African vendors figure’s absence in the works presented at the biennale, despite their highly visible presence in touristic towns in Italy… the economic and symbolic power balance that makes the presence of national pavilions of African countries difficult, and the controversy regarding the Kenyan Pavilion where most of the artists presented were Chinese.” This practice has driven the future of African art inward, creating continental fairs such as Nigeria’s Art X Lagos and Biennale de Dakar, Senegal and Biennale Luanda, Angola. Post pandemic, the spirit of Afrofuturism is becoming more and more normalized, akin to a software staple.
Reclaiming and recontextualizing Africa’s legacy and destiny is also accomplished through architecture. Togolese architect, artist and designer, Olalekan Jeyifous, states “We had to draw on our past and our traditions – from the music, food, clothing… systems of behaviour and mannerisms…education, it was all completely new… .” Olalekan creates “Shanty megastructures, mobile hover farms, upcycled salvaged breathing devices…” familiar to the fantastic futuristic African homestead, Wakanda, in Black Panther the film and catalyst for 21st century Pan African pride grossing over $1.4B, but that’s another story. Collaborations of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems with Appropriate Technology Development provide culturally relative solutions for the Continent. And as best practices are shared and strategies developed for movement of people, goods and services across 55 countries through the African Continental Free Trade Area, the future envisioned by the OAU Founding Fathers and Agenda 2063 will be realized.
The thirty-two signatory African governments gathered in Addis Abebe, May 25 1963, and were warmly welcomed by Elder Statesman, HIM Emperor Haile Selassie I. He cautioned his African comrades however, “There are (those) whose hopes for Africa are bright, who stand with faces upturned in wonder and awe at the creation of a new and happier life, who have dedicated themselves to its realization… spurred by example of their brothers to whom they owe the achievements of Africa’s past. What we require is a single African organization through which Africa’s single voice may be heard, within which Africa’s problems may be studied and resolved. The nations of Africa…from time to time dispute among themselves. These quarrels must be confined to this continent and quarantined from the contamination of non-African interference.” Afrofuturism is naturally Pan African with diplomatic remedies able to reset and serve global-kind, as what is good for Africa is good for all humanity.
Dr. Desta Meghoo is a Jamaican born Creative Consultant, Curator and cultural promoter based in Ethiopia since 2005. She also serves as Liaison to the AU for the Ghana based, Diaspora African Forum.
