Intelligent CIO Africa . As Africa ’ s mobile economy continues to grow according to the GSMA annual Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa report , Sub- Saharan Africa remains the fastest-growing region , with 477 million mobile subscribers at the end of 2019 and an additional 137 million expected subscribers over the period to 2025 , representing a compound annual growth rate ( CAGR ) of 4.3 %. Notably , 272 million are now mobile Internet users , representing 26 % of the Africa population , stated the report .

It is this mobile economy growth that is fuelling the progressing of mobile money ventures between traditional banks and fintechs , and telecoms service providers on the continent . This is why the telecoms , banking and financial services sectors in Africa are witnessing a lot of technology innovation from smaller start-ups to large IT vendors and banking conglomerates .

In this regard , we continue to cover articles in this edition of the magazine addressing the issues of Africa ’ s mobile economy , mobile money and the growth of digital contactless payments as more people get connected to mobile services with good Internet speeds .

Gracing the cover of this edition ’ s magazine is Dr Tomisin Fashina , Group CIO and Managing Director , eProcess International SA Ecobank . As a pan-African bank headquartered in Nigeria , Ecobank is on a mission to drive the economic development and financial integration of businesses and individuals across Africa . To achieve this , the bank sought to create a unified payments and cash management platform that would enable it to meet increasing customer demand for even more sophisticated banking services across the continent .

“ Fusion Cash Management fitted perfectly into our digital banking strategy and enabled us to provide a seamless digital experience to our growing customer base as they fulfilled their transactional needs . Our digital strategy , stipulated digitalising ourselves , our customers and our stakeholders . Fusion Cash Management was the catalyst that enabled this for our corporate customers ,” he says .

Among the many insights Dr Fashina shares with us is how Ecobank connected 34 African countries with Finastra ’ s unified cash management system to address the growing ubiquity of faster , modern payments with integrated liquidity management tools . You can read more by turning to page 50 .

Elsewhere in the magazine , we look at the state of the CIO as Digital Transformation is currently underway on the African continent . With IT leaders across various industry verticals expanding their roles to take on more business strategy responsibilities , identify new areas of revenue growth and opportunities for competitive differentiation , we hear from

industry pundits on the State of the CIO in the Middle East and Africa ( MEA ) region . You will find this feature on page 34 .

With the influx of personal devices in the workplace and the unprecedented risk of data breach and malware , tightening IT security at a company can seem like a daunting task . Just how difficult of a task is it and how are those entrusted with crafting the best BYOD policy managing ? We hear from industry specialists on how companies and employees are fashioning comprehensive BYOD policies . You can read more on BYOD policies on page 46 .

In this edition , we have all your favourite features , opinion , insight pieces and analysis articles from across the continent . You can also read daily news updates on our website at www . intelligentcio . com / africa /.

And kindly , don ’ t forget if you would like to get in touch please email me at manda @ lynchpinmedia . co . uk .

Once again , I would also like to wish you a great month ahead and do hope you will enjoy the read !

Manda Banda Editor www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO

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