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Ease of doing business to improve
Governments across Africa have woken
up to the potential of the small and
medium business sector as an engine for
economic growth and job creation. Major
countries are taking action to make it easier
for entrepreneurs to register and run a
company. Nigeria and Togo, for example,
both recorded impressive improvements,
according to the World Bank Group’s Doing
Business study.
And, South Africa recently launched a pilot
portal, with the aim of enabling business
owners to register a company online in just
one day.
Most African countries have some distance
to travel in reducing red tape and improving
infrastructure – but the signs of change
are encouraging.
Familiarise yourself with the digital tools
available in the markets where you operate
to streamline processes such as filing tax
submissions, registering a new business or
opening a business bank account.
Automated software picks up the
admin burden
Tools that were once too expensive and
complex for smaller businesses are becoming
increasingly accessible. For example,
nearly any business in Africa can afford to
automate accounting and payroll with a
cloud subscription software solution. And
now, tools such as Artificial Intelligence
(AI) are becoming a viable option for small
businesses in business processes such as
email marketing, customer service, data
entry and accounting.
Evaluate where you are still using paper or
Excel to run calculations and keep records,
then look for automated software tools that
can do the tasks for you. You can redirect the
hours you used to spend on your paperwork
towards sales or billable work instead.
www.intelligentcio.com
Pieter Bensch, Executive Vice-President at
Sage Africa and Middle East
“
MOST AFRICAN
COUNTRIES HAVE
SOME DISTANCE
TO TRAVEL
IN REDUCING
RED TAPE AND
IMPROVING
INFRASTRUCTURE
– BUT THE SIGNS
OF CHANGE ARE
ENCOURAGING.
A connected customer is hungry
for information complaints on social media, to writing
user reviews on tools like Google Maps,
consumers are using digital channels to get
what they want and need from companies
big and small.
Customers today use their mobile phones
as their gateway to knowledge and
information. From researching a big-ticket
purchase to asking questions and making With more than 525 million African
Internet users, or around 40% of the
population, this is a trend no small business
can afford to ignore.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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