EDITOR ’ S NOTE
Greetings to the readers of Intelligent CIO Africa . Similar to all emerging countries around the world , many of whose populations live on the fringe of the digital divide , smartphones , Internet , social media , and other mobile applications , have helped to create a momentum of inclusion into Africa ’ s digital economy .
No amount of government subsidies in any country , have helped to change the lives of populations that exist on the fringe of the digital divide , as much as Internet connectivity and mobile devices through telecom operators . They are the champions of digital transformation for majority of Africa ’ s population .
Education , healthcare , consumer purchases , agriculture , logistics , trade , banking , insurance , have reached Africa ’ s population , and without the Internet and mobile devices , this would never have been possible . Estimates vary , but it would be safe to say that 65 % of Africa ’ s population are still on the fringe of productive Internet connectivity .
Both country to country and intra-country connectivity benefit , when connectivity providers like ISPs , CSP , IXPs , telecom operators , invest in laying fibre networks . If the local fibre networks are not well developed , and the country does not have stable energy production , and the cities do not have a thriving digital traffic , then that African country is not likely to attract further investment in its digital connectivity .
In this edition , Samuel Carvalho from Angola Cables , captures the dynamics of Africa ’ s data networks industry . While Paul Colmer at Wireless Access Providers Association captures the complexity of working with municipalities for passage of fibre .
And in this month ’ s lead feature we consider how Kenya based marketing agency ; Belva Digital has leapfrogged its digital offerings by integrating with Infobip . Belva Digital was able to enhance its product portfolio by adding Infobip ’ s Communications Platform-as-a-Service offerings , including email , SMS , and WhatsApp for Business API .
Turn these pages to read more about the digital transformation that is taking place across Africa .
As African enterprises progress through their digital transformation journeys , they inevitably hit the cloud decision fork . What are the operational benefits and challenges in adopting a multi-cloud platform approach . Top executives from Mindware , ManageEngine , Seagate , respond to the Editor ’ s Question .
Wishing you the best of business success in the month ahead .
Arun Shankar Managing Editor arun @ lynchpinmedia . com
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