In the Business Beyond Covid series CEOs and other business leaders and experts in their sectors look to the future in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While our current focus is on overcoming the immediate challenge posed by the virus, business leaders also need to invest time and energy in imagining life and work post-pandemic. In my own efforts to see past the Covid-19 crisis and consider what comes next, four key priorities emerge for tech businesses operating on the continent:Due to the digital skills divide and a number of other factors, most Africans are not actively working in the digital economy.
Where countries have invested in building stronger agriculture sectors, the entire economy has been lifted. World Bank data shows that Ethiopia’s poverty levels dropped by a third since 2000 mainly thanks to impressive agricultural GDP growth of nearly 10% per year.Africa’s population growth has been on an accelerated path for some time.
The investments we make in training our youth today will pay huge dividends as we steer through the coming years and decades. And as populations age in more developed countries, the youth we train today may very well become the economic driving force of the future.In the immediate term, organisations will need to reconsider how they engage with their customers.
Commercial models also need to shift. Large-scale capital investment into new technologies is unlikely. Instead, tech companies should look at models that remove barriers to entry; for example, by offering solutions on a pay-as-you-go basis. Encouragingly, many tech companies are offering free versions of enterprise-grade software tools to help businesses large and small weather the immediate storm.