of Intelligent CIO Africa . As industry reports expect growth of the global Software Defined Networks ( SDN ) market to exceed US $ 13.7 billion in 2020 , expanding to more than US $ 32 billion within the next five years , it ’ s still not clear how much of this anticipated growth will be attributed to Africa considering the close link between SDN and the adoption of cloud services . What is clear in Africa is that mobile phone penetration across the continent is currently patchy , particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where the average mobile Internet connectivity sits below 25 %. Yet , there are some countries where accessibility and mobile penetration is higher , notably Kenya ( 83 %) and Nigeria where mobile broadband penetration is expected to rise to 55 % by 2025 . In South Africa , smartphone penetration sits at more than 80 %.

This is why the telecoms , banking and financial services sectors in Africa are witnessing a lot of technology innovation and driving the uptake of SDN across the continent . In this regard , we continue to cover articles in this edition of the magazine addressing the issues of Africa ’ s mobile economy , 5G rollouts and how this will influence and impact enterprise networks modernisation efforts across the continent . Gracing the cover of this edition ’ s magazine is Mohammed Kaka , Chief Operations Officer , AlBaraka Bank . As a focused provider of Islamic banking services headquartered in South Africa , AlBaraka Bank recently prioritised meeting the South African Reserve Bank ( SARB ) reporting requirements . Banks need to ensure that the correct information is submitted based on SARB requirements . This includes Balance of Payments ( BoP ) reporting on foreign currency trades to the SARB in a specified format to comply with Financial Surveillance requirements . When AlBaraka began updating its core banking platform it needed to ensure that the new system integrated with the SARB and complied with local legislation .

“ The bank had a bespoke solution designed by a foreign vendor in order to meet the regulatory requirements . The challenge with that is that the bank had to understand the regulatory requirements and be able to provide the analysis of the data for the vendor to develop the solution . The bank was unable to find an out of box solution at that point , making the exercise costly and resource intensive ,” says Kaka . “ AlBaraka teamed up with Synthesis to manage this integration as the software development , digital solutions and regtech company is at the forefront of SARB reporting with over 20 years ’ experience serving the majority of South African Banks .”

Among the many insights , Kaka outlines the two main challenges the bank faced , which were the cost of the system and the resource requirements to maintain the system . The bank had to constantly monitor for regulatory changes , to ensure business and IT rules were up to date . By partnering with Synthesis , AlBarak is able to handle the business compliance and Synthesis ensures

compliance through technology . You can read more by turning to page 50 .

Elsewhere in the magazine , we look at how Blockchain applications are being explored in many industries as a secure and costeffective way to create and manage a distributed database and maintain records for digital transactions of all types . You will find this feature on page 46 .

Software Defined Networking ( SDN ) is the hottest thing going today , but there is considerable confusion surrounding everything from the definition of the term to the different architectures and technologies suppliers are putting forward . You can read more on planning for SDN on page 34 .

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

7