With the exception of Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti,聽, although all countries (with the exception of Sudan) are forecast to record positive growth this year.

Traditional foreign exchange revenue sectors such as international tourism has all but disappeared. Data from the UN indicate that tourism numbers declined by 91% in Kenya: in August 2019, the country received 162 000 tourist visitors. By August 2020, that number had dropped to a mere 14 000. In the Seychelles, tourist numbers dropped from 335 000 to 16 000 over the same period.

According to official data, the region has also been the worst-hit in Africa in terms of labour impact. A total of聽, and subsequent fiscal stimulus is estimated to have only generated 5% of jobs lost, compared to 33% in Southern Africa.

Facing the prospect of a rapidly growing youth population, countries in the region are in a race to equip their youth with the digital skills they need to drive economic growth and innovation.

Maximising the youth dividend

East Africa鈥檚 youth population is聽, creating a youth dividend that would be the envy of any developed country.

According to the UN鈥檚 Medium Variant prediction, Rwanda鈥檚 youth population (those aged 15-34) will increase from 4.2 million in 2015 to 7.1 million in 2050. Over the comparative period, Kenya鈥檚 youth population will grow from 17 million to 24 million; in Tanzania from 17.9 million to 47.4 million, and in Uganda from 23 million to 38 million.

The pandemic-forced closure of schools has however undermined efforts at empowering youth with 21st century digital skills.

Unesco estimates that the closure of schools and other education institutions in the region affected聽, of which 79% were in primary school or younger. While governments across the region introduced remote teaching to minimise the impact of school closures, UNICEF estimates that nearly half (49%) of students in East and Southern Africa were unable to access remote learning.

Public-private partnership -led education and digital skills development initiatives will play a vital role in augmenting governments鈥� education efforts in the region. The 2020 麻豆原创 Africa Code Week (ACW), for example, switched to an all-virtual format which allowed learners from all African countries to participate.

In a survey conducted at the end of the 2020 ACW, 87% of respondents indicated that the initiative plays an influential role in advancing the adoption of coding curriculum. Nine African countries indicated that coding is already part of the national curriculum, and ten more are implementing plans to incorporate coding.

SMEs show the way with digital transformation

In 2017, SMEs accounted for 98% of all businesses in Kenya and created 30% of all jobs annually. According to the International Trade Centre,聽.

In Tanzania, an estimated three million SMEs contributed聽.

SMEs in the East Africa region are adopting the latest technologies to improve visibility over operations, gain granular insight into their finances and automate outdated manual processes to drive greater efficiency.

Mzuri Sweets, a Kenyan candy manufacturer, implemented a fully automated system that has replaced the business鈥� reliance on spreadsheets and manual reporting. Company decision-makers now have full visibility over the business and, in line with the demands of new hybrid work models, can make approvals from any location.

In Mauritius, engineering firm Sotramon Limit茅e replaced a reliance on manual processes with a system that supports effective stock-taking, improves financial analysis and delivers up-to-date insights about the performance of the business. The business now has improved versatility and greater independence, allowing it to more easily adapt to challenges and take advantage of emerging opportunities.

How governments and the private sector respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the coming months will determine the mid- and long-term success of the region鈥檚 efforts at building back better. Many businesses still record their activities on paper, or in disconnected systems and applications that create data siloes and cause a lack of integration between business planning and execution systems. Organisations across East Africa need to invest in and adopt technology at a rapid rate to ensure they continue operating successfully.

Governments will also continue to feel the pressure to reduce the rate of infection and contain the spread of COVID-19. However, many of the technology systems that are being used for vaccine rollouts are not designed to provide the requisite traceability. Data sharing to public and private health facilities entails multiple stakeholders, not all of which have the benefit of automated systems and processes.

To alleviate some of the challenges, 麻豆原创 is working with governments across the globe to drive a more resilient response to the pandemic. The accelerated uptake of 麻豆原创鈥檚 experience management platforms by governments help to inform policy and program design across all portfolios to enable greater responsiveness to the needs of citizens and businesses. By using such technologies, governments in East Africa can demonstrate an unprecedented level of responsiveness and so help build trust in the rollout of vaccines in the region.

As East Africa faces a challenging period ahead, businesses and governments should continue to invest in their digital transformation to build the resilience, agility and adaptability needed to survive and thrive in a post-pandemic world.

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Africa is arguably undergoing the most rapid and far-reaching changes of any region in the world, as a swelling population, consistent economic growth and greater digitisation of goods and services herald a new era of opportunity for progress and prosperity.

The continent鈥檚 urban population is expected to swell by an estimated 24 million people every year between 2015 and 2045, with implied increases in consumption.

By 2030, Africa鈥檚 under-18 population will grow by nearly 170 million, according to data by Unicef, and young Africans are expected to make up 42% of the world鈥檚 youth population by 2030. By the middle of the century, two in every five children under the age of 18 will live in Africa.

This demographic dividend, if given the correct mix of skills development and economic opportunity, could transform Africa鈥檚 fortunes and usher in a rapid economic development similar to that of Vietnam and China over the past twenty years.

How we collectively approach the next ten years could determine whether West Africa 鈥� and the continent as a whole 鈥� realises its potential and achieves greater prosperity for its growing population.

Africa on the move

Today, Africa accounts for 17% of the world鈥檚 population but only 3% of global GDP. This is due to change.

By 2025, household consumption in Africa could reach an estimated $2.1-trillion, and business consumption $3.5-trillion. The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement has effectively started the process of creating a growing market of $1.3-trillion with a consumer base of 1.3 billion.

While the pandemic has had a devastating effect on governments, citizens and businesses across Africa, there is much cause for hope and optimism. In West Africa and elsewhere on the continent, the growing adoption of digital technologies combined with African ingenuity and innovation are contributing to a transformation of the continent鈥檚 cities, schools, businesses and governments.

Transforming learning and education

The pandemic has had a severe impact on schools and education, with many countries instituting lockdowns that kept kids out of school. The forced switch to remote work has created greater urgency within education departments across the region to fast track the process of building better e-learning capabiltiies.

The share of West African youth with post-secondary education is also rapidly increasing, from 13% in 2000 to 23% in 2020. If countries in the region can implement an accelerated education policy, we could see this share jump to 71% by 2040.

By 2030, we may well see urban and rural schools using hybrid teaching models that combine in-school and distance learning. The continued role of initiatives such as 麻豆原创 Africa Code Week, which has introduced millions of kids to basic coding and digital skills since its launch in 2015, will be vital as public and private sector partners work with governments across the region to equip youth with the essential skills needed to succeed in the global digital economy.

Connectivity, digitisation creating new opportunities

Connectivity remains a challenge to improving not only the region鈥檚 e-learning capabilities, but its wider adoption of digital services. In 2015, only 15% of the population across West Africa had access to 4G technology, but this rate leapt to 63% by 2020.

The arrival of 5G in the region will accelerate connectivity and help establish entirely new ways to learn, do business, purchase products and engage with government services. This faster connectivity may also see an acceleration of telco operator efforts at diversifying. Expect to see greater innovation in payments and digital services as telcos introduce tailored new offerings to subscribers.

The switch to remote work has initiated an accelerated process of digital transformation in West African workplaces. Expect to see more mature systems and processes guiding remote and hybrid work models, with potentially new innovations from the region鈥檚 healthy startup ecosystem.

The rise of regional technology hubs that can house and incubate a new breed of African innovation-led business also point to a bright future. West Africa is already home to 142 technopoles, regional technology hubs where a new breed of innovative African businesses can start-up and grow. These include the IT & Biotechnology Village in C么te d鈥橧voire, as well as incubators such as Jokkolabs which is present in several countries in the region.

The shifting consumer landscape

Greater connectivity may also unlock the region鈥檚 immense e-commerce potential. While e-commerce market growth held steady at 9% annual growth from 2010 to 2017, the region鈥檚 dominant e-commerce companies have recently made huge strides forward, including Jumia, whose growth will be accelerated following the massive $570-million funding it raised in the past six months.

However, some challenges remain before the promise of e-commerce can be fully realised across the region. Data by the Boston Consulting Group found that between 30% and 40% of products ordered over the internet are returned because the recipient cannot be found.

The region鈥檚 underdeveloped retail sector could be a blessing in disguise, as there are fewer legacy aspects to change or overcome. In 2018, there were 136 physical retail stores per million people in Latin America, 568 per million in Europe, and 930 per million in the US. In Africa, there was only 15 formal retail stores per million people.

By the end of the decade, we may also see a transformation of the in-store shopping experience, as customer experience (CX) efforts mature and greater automation and choice become available. Self-service checkout counters, contactless mobile or biometric payments, and robotic workers assisting in-store staff with certain repetitive tasks may become common sights in the region鈥檚 retail environments.

Smart homes could become commonplace, connecting households to products and services through connected appliances and home automation systems. The falling price of sensors and prospect of 5G connectivity could see entirely new categories of smart devices emerge, including clothing, consumer goods and much more.

The next ten years will be some of the most exciting and most important times in our history. As organisations in West Africa continue to invest in digital technologies and build towards becoming intelligent enterprises, new opportunities will emerge that could transform how we live, work, learn and play. I for one am excited to see how the place I call home steps into our technology-enabled future.

The post West Africa in Ten Years – An Optimist’s View appeared first on 麻豆原创 Africa News Center.

Especially in this post-pandemic world that lies ahead, the urgency to close the digital skills gap and support the youth becomes more evident and critical. Individuals and Organizations share the responsibility to take action in order to secure a bright digital future, full of opportunities. Following its purpose to help the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives 麻豆原创 continues to drive various initiatives to address solutions to pressing global issues such as the digital skills gap.

A global best practice to tackle local challenges and turn them into opportunities聽

With 77% of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touching an 麻豆原创 system, 麻豆原创 customers and partners need 麻豆原创-skilled talents, enabled on 麻豆原创鈥檚 latest innovations, to satisfy their hiring demand. Matching this demand, especially for certified 麻豆原创 Consultants, with the abundance of talented but unemployed youth, the creates a quadruple-win situation through its various training initiatives.

鈥淥ur digital skill build programs were created on the foundation of a highly unique collaborative effort. We work closely with 麻豆原创 customers, partners, peers and other stakeholders such as government organizations to create a quadruple-win situation: local youth find a job, our 麻豆原创 customers and partners find brilliant talent, 麻豆原创 enhances its ecosystem, and countries benefit as we support digital skills build and hereby help to prepare the economy and society for an increasingly digital world鈥�, said Marita Mitschein, Managing Director of the 麻豆原创 Training & Development Institute and Senior Vice President Digital Skills at 麻豆原创 South Europe, Africa and Middle East.

One of the initiatives offered by the institute is the 麻豆原创 Young Professional Program: a 2-3 months long program which covers a unique enablement plan including 麻豆原创 software functional/ technical knowledge and certification as well as soft and future skill trainings for selected unemployed or underemployed university graduates in the country where the program is offered. After successful completion, participants graduate from the program are Certified 麻豆原创 Associate Consultants, ready to kickstart their careers at 麻豆原创 customer and partner companies.

Since the launch of the Young Professional Program in 2013, the institute has empowered over 2990 program graduates across 28 countries and hereby developed a successful initiative that became a best practice for sustainable job creation globally. As a result, 99% of previously unemployed or underemployed university graduates found employment after graduation from the Young Professional Program. Across Africa, the 麻豆原创 Young Professional Program is offered under the 麻豆原创 Skills for Africa initiative.

Knowledge and skills must always be a priority, especially in times like these

鈥淭he 鈥榥ew reality鈥� further highlighted the necessity to accelerate digital skill build in an increasingly digital world. For us it was clear, that our digital skill build initiatives are more important than ever before, and we did not lose any time to ensure ongoing programs as well as upcoming programs will continue as planned鈥�, said Marita Mitschein.

The very first 麻豆原创 Young Professional Program in Algeria began in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: it started with the usual face to face sessions and was adapted into a virtual delivery model overnight in order to allow the students to complete their trainings without any disruption – from organizing virtual training sessions to helping trainers fly-out safely to their home countries despite sudden lockdowns.

The graduates of this cohort in Algeria have started their jobs with customers and partners, supporting their digital transformation agendas and driving change in this increasingly digital world. In addition to the program in Algeria, 13 cohorts of the Young Professional Program have started across 14 different countries since February in fully virtual format, enabling today鈥檚 youth to thrive and not only survive in these unprecedented times and beyond.

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