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Mobile to drive Africa's digital disruption

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Cape Town, 19 Aug 2016
Africa's mobile industries will be worth $5.1 billion by 2020, according to Frost & Sullivan projections.
Africa's mobile industries will be worth $5.1 billion by 2020, according to Frost & Sullivan projections.

The mobile revolution that is sweeping Africa is the gateway to the future, according to Dorman Followwill, senior partner at Frost & Sullivan.

Followwill made the comments during his keynote address at the Frost & Sullivan Growth, Innovation and Leadership 2016 Africa conference in Cape Town on Thursday. The market intelligence and growth consulting firm hosted its sixth digital transformation conference.

According to Followwill, Africa will emerge as the staging ground for some of the greatest technologies in the world.

Africa is a continent of great opportunity, he said. "We've seen this in mobile, mobile payments and virtual currency. I believe mobile is the gateway [through which] Africa will emerge as the new China and staging ground of the future.

"There will be key mobile-based industries in Africa that are expected to be worth a consolidated $5.1 billion by the year 2020."

The mobile-driven industries include m-learning, m-health, m-entertainment and m-banking, noted Followwill.

Frost & Sullivan projects there will be four billion connected devices in Africa by 2025, with mobile penetration sitting at 1.23 billion cellular connections, which will represent 83% market penetration.

Followwill added that by 2025, Africa's digital economy will reach $315 billion, which will account for 7% of the continent's gross domestic product.

He also noted the future of digital business will be about owning the transactions and interactions. "The new business models are no longer about owning assets."

The digital wave of transformation is sweeping the globe and the African continent, he concluded.

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