PROPERTY & INVESTMENT
Having sat down with Juanita Clark to discuss the digital landscape in South Africa , it is clear that she is exactly the kind of person the country needs to galvanise us into an inclusive Fourth Industrial Revolution economy .
As the founder and CEO of the Digital Council Africa , Juanita realised in the mid-2000s that South Africa needed a countrywide grassroots education programme for fibre optic infrastructure . In 2010 , after more than 25 years in the ITC space , she set up the Digital Council Africa , a non-profit organisation that is at the forefront of digital transformation across sub-Saharan Africa .
Juanita and her team wear many hats . As an independent industry association , the Digital Council Africa ’ s mandate is to educate government , policymakers , private sector stakeholders and other role players on the role of fibre in the greater connectivity ecosystem . They produce white papers on topics related to the digital economy and how the country can position itself as an investment destination , lobby policymakers on the country ’ s readiness for digital infrastructure investment , and regularly engage with industry leaders to ensure that the Council at all times understands their concerns , and that they remain thought leaders on future digital technologies .
One would think that it takes an army to handle such a tall order , but Juanita speaks warmly of her progressive team that consists of only a handful contract employees who are all dedicated to what they are trying to achieve .
Building an aeroplane in full flight
And what they are trying to achieve is to build an efficient aeroplane while it ’ s already in flight , soaring through the sky . This is because the South African digital revolution is in full swing . South Africa ’ s digital revolution never quite began ; rather , it exploded into being . The fibre industry was pioneered by a small group of fearless entrepreneurs who , at great risk , adopted a ‘ build it and they will come ’ mentality when they first broke ground on the rollout of fibre projects across the country .
Billions have been invested . Fibre optic networks are notoriously expensive to deploy , and , unlike most commodities , fibre prices are continuously under pressure and have in fact decreased significantly , not increased as is the norm . Not something investors feel comfortable with . The risk was worth the reward , as South Africans in their thousands flocked to become part of the FTTH community , and fibre entrepreneurs found themselves in a situation where they could hardly keep up with the demand .
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