EDITOR ’ S NOTE
Welcome to the latest edition of
Intelligent CIO Africa . A recent survey conducted by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by Dell Technologies has revealed that remote work is likely to become the norm , with many organisations rethinking their workplace policies . Two-thirds ( 67 %) of decision makers said their organisations are extending remote working arrangements for some employees even after the pandemic , while 57 % said they are introducing more flexible work-from-home policies for all of their employees . However , many agree that the right equipment is key to the success of these policies and efficiency . In this regard , we continue to cover articles in this edition of the magazine addressing the issues of Africa ’ s remote work challenges , the rush to digitise in the education sector and how this will influence and impact enterprises across the continent as they continue on their Digital Transformation journey .
Gracing the cover of this edition ’ s magazine is George Njuguna , Director , Information Technology ( CIO ), Safaricom PLC , who tells us how the Kenya-based telecoms provider is driving a digital first agenda through the many innovations it is bringing to market for its millions of customers as its strives for excellence in the East and Central African market . As the largest telecommunications service provider in Kenya and one of the most profitable companies in the East and Central Africa region , Safaricom offers mobile telephony , mobile money transfer , consumer electronics , e-commerce , cloud computing , data , music streaming and fibre optic services . The telco is most renowned as the home of MPESA , a mobile banking SMSbased service that facilitates mobile phonebased money transfer service , payments and micro-financing service , launched in 2007 by Vodafone Group PLC and Safaricom .
“ Mobile money is very big here . It ’ s the largest volume of digital transactions in the country , with about 24 million active users per month . We did some research and realised a lot of customers paid when they didn ’ t have money but the transactions were able to complete within a day or two of the transactions ,” says Njuguna .
Among the many insights , Njuguna outlines that : “ In Kenya , 90 % of the telecommunications market is actually prepaid . You buy a bundle with data and minutes , and you buy it ahead of time . Some people literally buy four or five bundles a day because they live from day-to-day . The way the product is propositioned is you would buy a bundle for a particular amount . We switched this in October last year following an initiative by our Commercial and DevOps teams , based on insights derived from the behaviour seen in the way people buy milk .” You can read more by turning to page 50 .
Elsewhere in the magazine , we look the United Bank of Egypt which recently embarked on a far-reaching Digital
Transformation , reinventing systems and processes all in an effort to improve its banking services to customers in the North African country . You will find this article on page 42 .
Hardly a day goes by without one reading a great deal about disruptive technology and enterprises that have collapsed due to inappropriate response to it . In Africa , the continent has seen governments at the forefront of embracing disruptive and emerging technologies . You can read more on disruptive technology on page 46 .
In this edition , we have all your favourite features , opinion , insight pieces and analysis articles from across the continent . You can also read daily news updates on our website at www . intelligentcio . com / africa /.
And kindly , don ’ t forget if you would like to get in touch please email me at manda @ lynchpinmedia . co . uk .
Once again , I would also like to wish you a great month ahead and do hope you will enjoy the read !
Manda Banda Editor www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
7