Tag Archives: Africa

SAP Engages with Nairobi to Transform Enterprise Innovation

Cloud technology giant SAP aims to enable enterprises to make digital transformations that can result in significant increases in revenue and efficiency by connecting processes and making their internal systems, data and networks more intelligent.

SAP Africa had its first-ever “drive event” in Nairobi for customers and partners in November 2022 to explain more about business innovation and transformation and to show companies how with the right technology and insights, and with the right partner, they can grow exponentially.

SAP bills itself as the “coolest software company you have never heard of” running the critical systems of top companies in diverse industries like ice cream, pet food, beauty products, and finance where 77% of all global transactions go through an SAP system.

Excerpts:

Why Innovate? Hardeep Sound, the SAP Regional Director, East Africa said that since 2000, 52% of the Fortune 500 companies have gone out of business. In Kenya, household names like Intercontinental and Tuskys were among the 1,300 and 2,530 companies that folded shop in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

The pace of growth has also accelerated in recent years; whereas between 1955 to 2011 it took a Fortune 500 company 20 years to reach a billion-dollar valuation, today they are getting there in 4 years. He said that companies in Kenya could enhance their value by mining customer data, doing analytics, managing customer relationships and experiences, managing human resources, digitizing supply chains, and monitoring how they spend their resources.

Easy Connections: Stanley Dube, SAP’s Head of Presales in Africa explained how Nokia sold 126 million model 3310 devices, and while his still works 22 years on, the company is a shell of its past. He said that one teaches people how to use phones and applications – they simply buy new devices and start using apps, without realizing how they are partners with companies like Apple and Google who do software updates and backups in the cloud. And if someone loses their phone, they can recover everything back in a matter of hours on a new device.

He likened owing a phone to SAP’s vision to enable companies to be intelligent and sustainable enterprises to deliver business and societal outcomes, with SAP’s modular ERP in the cloud that can manage finance, procurement, manufacturing, warehousing, asset management, research, supply chain and human resources combining 50 years of experience and meeting 80% of the enterprise needs of most companies. SAP’s ERP can connect with apps from other technology vendors while they also have a store that has 2,000 applications where companies can find products that others have built and which they can use.

Aside from the savings that can be 20% to 30% over five years from having SAP run backups, operations, data centres, software, licenses, and maintenance, it frees up managers from doing things like generating reports and shifting to do other things that can add value to companies like strategic planning.

Finding Value in Data: Bhavesh Chavda, Senior Director of Business Technology (BTP) Platform, spoke of the importance of harnessing data; it’s not just about migrating data from an unsafe on-site server room to the cloud, companies also must assess the quality and timeliness of their data for it to be useful and accessible and interrogated by management and by other applications. He said managers should be able to interrogate data, without knowing how to do any coding (“no-code, low-code”). The SAP BTP cleans up enterprise data and enables data-driven decisions, with continuous automation, low code extensions, and application testing. The BTP discovery centre is a free tier to try out for companies to connect, automate, and innovate and 12,000 customers around the world use BTP. He said that SAP’s ERP can connect even with third-party apps while companies can sign on to the free business technology platform (BTP) and start building on new applications.

Rapid Feedback with SAP: Sherif Hamoudah, Head of Ecosystems & Channels for SAP Signavio spoke about SAP Signavio, a transformational system that enables companies to do what used to take consulting teams months to do. Signavio drills through 60 different processes for enterprise transformation within a day, spotting redundancies and inefficiencies and recommending fixes that have been adopted by other organizations for continuous improvement. He gave examples from the auto industry where semiconductor shortages are affecting car manufacturing, and in finance, where global firms are using Signavio for risk compliance.

Using Data to Drive Revenue: Rais David, Senior Customer Experience Solutions Specialist SAP spoke of the value of data and the importance of using current data to discern trends in revenue. Google is phasing out cookies by the end of 2023 and this is at a time when mobile e-commerce accounts for $511 billion or 7.5% of all sales. At the same time, $93 billion of online sales are abandoned each year because customers find there are too many steps to complete a purchase transaction. SAP systems manage 3 billion consumer data identities, while protecting their privacy, and process $570 billion making them the 7th largest entity in sales.

Fast Turnaround on Implementation: Lewi Maina, Consulting Services Manager at SAP emphasized the importance of businesses being quick to implement changes if they are to thrive in fast-changing environments. He said that once they took a path, they should aim for a quick turnaround time for projects as he said that some companies in Africa can now deploy Rise and other SAP projects in a few weeks. This is a takeaway from previous transformation projects at companies that took up to three years. He said that the five keys to a successful deployment were implementing cloud with an agile mindset, using preconfigured solutions, leveraging on modern integration and extension technologies, and ensuring transparent documentation on deviations.

At the drive event, testimony was shared from some clients of SAP including;

  • David Kariuki, ICT & Innovation Manager of the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO), the state agency that builds high voltage transmission lines across Kenya. In 2018 after the government asked entities to take procurement online and plug into their central procurement system, known as IFMIS, KETRACO chose SAP’s Ariba as it sought to replace a manual procurement process where suppliers brought in envelopes and huge booklets of tender documents to be reviewed and scored in a time-consuming and laborious process. After a long process of digitization, standardizing procurement, tracking activities to reduce time loss, and overcoming supplier resistance, KETRACO, which was one of the first companies in East Africa to deploy SAP’s Ariba is now a centre of benchmarking for e-procurement. They also have access to innovation, as SAP updates come over the cloud quarterly for them to adopt.
  • John Wachira the Group Manager of Information Technology at the Safal Group (popularly known for its Mabati Rolling Mills products) spoke about the complex deployment with SAP to consolidate the group’s 36 operations that are in eight countries. They are in the second phase now to consolidate the end-to-end manufacturing, downstream operations, and commercial operations into one standard business environment on the cloud. They have gone live in six countries with two to go.

CFA: West Africa’s Brexit Moment

CFA Facebook post republished with permission of  TOS.

Today Senegal celebrates its independence; strangely enough, I am not in a celebratory mood. 50+ years of so-called independence, the more things are the same.

I am somehow very encouraged by President Alpha Conde’s and Kabore’s recent remarks, which makes me think that something is brewing…I posted an article in a private forum and feel the need to share it with a bigger audience in the hope to widen the tent that will lead our leaders to the waters…Here you go.

“If you want your independence then take it”, uttered De Gaulle in 1958 frustrated by young men heckling him.  Independence was given a few years later, but independence was not gained, as the terms were never negotiated in good faith but dictated by France and the CFA became a by-product of that.

At recent events, the Minister of Economy of Senegal suggested that Senegal is not considering dropping the CFA, which given the current climate, to me is a political response to an economic problem.

In contrast the President of Chad, Idriss Debby landed on the opposite side of the argument and clearly established himself as the only head of state siding with a growing number of Africans, who have come to accept that Africa cannot be truly independent if its financial system is controlled in France.

In many parts of Francophone Africa, there is an emerging sense that economic growth cannot happen without economic independence, especially with 50% of CFA member countries’ reserves being deposited into the French coffers. Such an awareness implies that people are ready for an alternative and a clean departure from the CFA and transition into an independent currency.

A move like this has to be strategic and deliberate simply because doing away with 70 years of political and economic control, will not be without peril. The French economy came out of its economic crisis after World War II in big part because of the CFA and relies on this system of exploitation to remain a strong economy in Europe.

Therefore, dropping the CFA, without a clear well laid plan and implementation strategy might not be a winning strategy, but a knee-jerk reaction. It is also important that we take timeless lessons from previous movements that called for change such as the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street etc. These movements were well-meaning and all called for positive changes, but they were all reactive and started without a clear end game and solid alternative in place.

So my question is how do we form a coherent strategy consistent with the efforts already being put forth on the ground, and overcome the challenges ahead? Here is a summary of what I think might be a good starting point:

  • Understand the forces at play: Understanding the lay of the land, including the historical backdrop, the parties involved will help us not duplicate efforts and coordinate our efforts to support the different fronts that are on the ground presently. The first step should be to research and take stock of all the current issues, and what the movements are doing, including the Front contre le Franc CFA, led by people like Kemi Seba, who have been fighting the good fight for years now.
  • Build on strengths of the movements already on the ground: A number of organizations have been laying the ground for years, but efforts have not been coordinated enough to reach a critical mass. I think the time is ripe and we can build on the January 7, 2017, events that were synchronized in Paris, Abidjan Dakar etc.…  Some research will be beneficial in order to know what people are doing and what is working, and what is not. Based on this information a framework can be built for how we can contribute positively to the cause. However, so far it seems the conversation has not gone beyond denouncing and asking for the end of the monetary servitude, for I am yet to see any concrete steps that lay a blueprint of how to achieve this objective and the ultimate goal of self-determination.
  • Develop a framework to complement these efforts: The framework should consider an end game, formalize the necessary steps, and then develop an initial response to potential challenges for each step. The benefit of this approach is that it allows us to look ahead, identify, anticipate and help us adapt to changing situations.
  • Educate ourselves and inform others, to build a critical mass: The only way to be effective is to have a full understanding of the high and low points of what an independent currency would bring in terms of positive changes. There are several resources from African-born experts who have written and spoken extensively on the subject, such as Nicolas Agbohou who wrote “Le franc CFA et L’euro contre l’afrique,” Demba Moussa Dembele, author of “Sortir l’afrique de la servitude monetaire” and many others. There are also many short and easily digestible videos available on the subject.
  • Enlist Monetary Policy and Economic development experts: We need to know what our competencies are and seek out outside experts such as Dr. Abdourahmane Sarr President of the Center for Local Economic Development Financing (CEFDEL), on areas where we do not have either expertise or sound plans in place. A winning proposition will have to add something positive to the debate, therefore it is important to know what winning strategies are currently being executed and try to complement the gaps we can identify.
  • Craft a value proposition to engage those on the sidelines: Assuming that despite framing the value a departure from the CFA will bring, we do not succeed in getting people to get involved, we should be able to pivot and appeal to people’s selfish nature, and what they stand to gain, for example: If a person lives in the US, and sends money home monthly, could they be swayed if they see that they monthly remittances can drop considerably? If the person lives in Senegal and wants to start a business or grow their business, could we explain how this will possibly affect access to capital and help them export?
  • Attack the CFA weaknesses and offer alternatives: Every solution has weak points and every problem presents new opportunities. Let’s list these out, and take the message within our networks and above. Winning people’s support and buy-in will build momentum and bolster enough support to put pressure on our leaders to hold referendums and in term force on the hand of France to accept new terms in its relationship with its former colonies.
  • Negotiate a win-win economic partnership with France: Coming up with a creative offer for France will be a better solution than a confrontation, which will simply be suicidal, and will lead to more destruction of our economies. Let’s capture our imagination, if you have ideas or know others who might have ideas on how we can give incentives to France to accept a different partnership agreement that can allow both parties to benefit, please share these ideas.

If you subscribe to this vision, I challenge you to engage people in your networks, one conversation at a time. The lives of close to 150 million people depend on this, so if you are from Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo Cameroun, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, or know someone from those countries, get educated, get involved and be the change you want to see.

Read up on the CFA Franc.

Image source: Silicon Africa

Growth Crossings: Africa Rising?

Excerpts from the Economist Events #GrowthCrossings dinner in Nairobi this week.

growthcrossings-nairobi

  • China grew by exporting to the world, Africa is rising by buying products – Abiola Olaniran
  • There are 1 trillion cash transactions in Africa that can be financially included through partnerships & technology – Sanjay Rughani
  • In two years, the unbanked African population has dropped from 54% to 46% – Sanjay Rughani
  • An ADB study found 3 drivers of Africa growth to be demographics (young urban population), climate change, and digital leapfrogging – Donald Kaberuka
  • A mobile network is many things in Africa, and Safaricom will be an ecosystem for others to succeed e.g in health, education, energy – Stephen Chege.
  • E-commerce is driven by high volumes, consistent delivery, and consumer protection – this takes a lot to succeed in Africa –  Sanjay Rughani.

JW Marriott to open hotel in Nairobi with AVIC

EDIT August 16, 2018; On his Facebook page, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko announced that construction work of the AVIC building had been stopped, and Chinese and Kenyan contractors had been arrested for encroaching on a public road.

March 24, 2016: Today, Marriott International and AVIC International signed a partnership agreement which will see Marriott operate a 365-room, 5-star J.W Marriott luxury hotel for AVIC in their Africa headquarters and office complex, in Westlands Nairobi.

AVIC representatives said the company had been in Kenya for the 20 years, engaging in four areas; aviation (built the new JKIA airport terminal, and supplied Y12 aircraft), education (equipment and training for NYS projects), real estate (in which they hope to create 15,000 jobs), and CSR (sponsoring Kenyans to get educated in China). AVIC is a China state-owned company with 60 global offices.

Avic Marriott Nairobi signing

Avic Marriott Nairobi signing

A VP from Marriott said that while they have 110 properties (with 13,000 rooms) in Africa, this was the first J.W Marriott in East Africa and they planned to expand in 5 more countries by 2020 including Rwanda and Zambia. Also that they have 19 global brands, and may open under a different chain in Mombasa, Kenya). He said they have many Kenyans managing and working at their properties in the Middle East, and who were ready to come back home to work. He said that they choose owners and investors carefully to partner with, in China and Africa.

Nairobi County Governor Evans Kidero, who was hailed as a supporter of the project, said that the $400 million AVIC complex with JW Marriott hotel represents 6% of Nairobi’s annual new building space and 8% of the annual build cost. He also said that with 5,000 hotel beds, the city is strained when hosting large summits like the upcoming UNCTAD and TICAD 6, which will both be in Nairobi later in 2016.

Construction of the AVIC complex started in August 2015. It will have 6 towers, with the tallest being 42 storeys. Building works are ongoing, next to the Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel that has established itself over the last two years and who challenged the construction of the AVIC complex.

Dreaming of an African Formation

A true Beyonce fan must try to see Beyonce. And if that’s your travel dream, you should make it happen.

A few weeks, ago Beyonce performed at the Super Bowl halftime show. And, just before that, she released her Formation video, about which Awesomely Luvvie wrote .. “this Formation video (directed by Melina Matsoukas) that she dropped on everyone in the middle of a Saturday is the best thing she’s ever done.”

She also announced a Formation Tour with dates in the US and Europe.  The Formation Tour website  lists tickets that are still available  in several cities, some of which can be accessed with reasonable airfares from Nairobi. These include London ($749 round trip fare from Nairobi), Zurich ($669(, Milan ($649), Copenhagen ($699), and Frankfurt ($649). You should have saved up for by now if you’re a true fan.

A Beyonce super fan in Nairobi who plans to attend a Formation concert says it would be ideal if the concert tour came to Africa, probably Johannesburg (which is always a possibility).

I asked her if going to any of these European cities for the concerts intrigued her – Brussels? Copenhagen? Cardiff? Milan? And is she could combine a trip to those cities with fashion, museums, or something else? She said:

  • I want her to come to South Africa (SA). She needs to be watched with a squad and trying to haul many people to anywhere that requires boarding >1 plane is always hectic. The best option would be London, but those tickets get sold out in a matter of minutes. So. we’ll wait for SA.
  • Going to the city itself isn’t a problem. That’s the easy part. I went to watch Kendrick Lamar (and Usher) in New Orleans last year by myself and the thing that I missed was having my friends there. Just watching the action is fine but Beyonce is such a collective experience (see how the internet reacts whenever she does something, with all stans feeling the need to reach out and engage with other stans) that it seems like a disservice to yourself to do that experience without at least a couple of friends. Then the issue becomes logistics – everyone getting leave, visas, organizing flights, accommodation, etc. The further you go the more time you need, which makes it harder to synchronize.  
  • SA is a quick weekend trip + relatively cheap and hassle-free.  You can go after work on Friday and be back in the office by Monday a.m.

Awesomely Luvvie’s Beyonce Mixed GIF

Reasonable airfares from Nairobi are also available to US cities that still have Formation tour tickets available between April to June 2016, including Tampa, Raleigh, Nashville, San Diego, Seattle, Edmonton, Minneapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Detroit.

Back to the formation video, which  is loaded with lots of references for Beyonce fans; to important pieces like the New Orleans, the Creole people, and towns in her life, like Alabama (Nairobi roundtrip tp Montgomemerry $1,589) and Lousiana (Baton Rouge $1,589) and Texas (Houston $1,099). 

Also see why Kenya is unlikely to have a Beyonce concert, any time soon.