At a number of African Development Bank (AfDB) meetings, the subject of digital in Africa has been discussed extensively. This speaks to the increasingly important role that digital technology plays in the economy, as well as the daily lives of the people living on the continent.

The availability of relatively cheap cellphone handsets and access to established communications networks mean digital media is already being used to connect people and brands in innovative ways, especially in countries like Namibia.

A recent example is that of Tafel Lager one of the most popular beer brands in Namibia from Namibia Breweries Limited  using social media to include thousands of Namibians in the celebration of the country’s 29th anniversary of independence.

The Beat of Namibia campaign encouraged Namibians to send 15-second video clips via WhatsApp showcasing their musical ability (moves, beats, ululate, etc). These clips were then turned into a song and music video by Namibian producer Sam-E Lee Jones, along with a host of local musicians. Launched on 21 March, Independence Day, the song has been a resounding success.

The entries received totaled in the thousands, illustrating just how easy collaboration can be when digital technology is used correctly.

“With the growth in internet penetration in Africa, and mobile becoming the primary tool through which people engage, projects based on the mechanics of crowd-sourcing and co-creation have been flourishing”, says LucyMay Lubrani-Slabber, Manager: Digital Marketing at Namibia Breweries.

Hendrik van der Westhuizen, Managing Director at Namibia Breweries, agrees: “In a mobile-first continent, we are committed to riding the wave of the digital revolution. At Namibia Breweries, we are enabling an ecosystem of amazing experiences for all our Namibian stakeholders, and beyond.”

The success of the Beat of Namibia campaign proves what many have known for a long time –Africa is in the middle of a surge in digital adoption. This surge is allowing Africans to tell their own stories in collaboration with top brands, like Tafel lager, which have the vision to take advantage of this new digital movements and it seems it’s only the beginning.

The post Beer And Digital: A Story Of Co-Creation In Africa first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Beer And Digital: A Story Of Co-Creation In Africa appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The best and fastest way to overcome these barriers, may lie in heightened cooperation between countries and their various regulators.

This is according to James Claude, CEO of Global Voice Group (GVG),  a provider of IT solutions to governments and regulatory authorities – who says that while many countries in Africa are individually working to increase their infrastructure and digital capabilities, the most effective solution will be to approach these challenges from a regional perspective.

While attending the 5^thCrans Montana Forum in Dakhla, Morocco in March of this year, Claude noted that African governments have a crucial role to play in taking the continent to the next stage in its digital evolution.

“Businesses, universities and young entrepreneurs are increasingly contributing to the digital economy and fostering innovation in Africa. Governments now need to work towards helping these private sector players to grow their solutions more rapidly and affect real change on the continent. This will require harmonising regulations that allow businesses and services to expand beyond country borders.”

Africa’s potential as a global leader in the world’s digital economy grows significantly with each passing year. Africa’s population is increasing exponentially, and is expected to reach between 1.379 billion and 1.486 billion by 2025. In addition to this, the market penetration of digital technology is accelerating. Importantly, it is predicted that half of Africa’s entire population is expected to own smartphones by 2020, which already goes a long way towards overcoming infrastructural barriers to digital transformation and connecting people and services online.

“Building on this, mobile money platforms such as M-Pesa has fundamentally changed the way that money is circulated on the continent. E-commerce is also growing rapidly as a result of mobile money, with online retailers that accept mobile money payments even providing people without bank accounts access a greater variety of goods. Similarly, small and medium businesses are able to increase sales and overcome many infrastructure restraints.”

Claude explains that governments across the continent must build on this by creating more digital services based in Africa, facilitating more local tech companies, and continuing to invest in education and incubators that allow citizens to fully access and benefit from digital transformation.

“Equally vital, is to ensure that regulators in every region and country have the visibility, transparency and the necessary data to make informed decisions that will help the digital economy across the different jurisdictions. This is an area in which GVG already has a lot of experience, having pioneered the regulatory technology solution, RegTech on the continent.”

GVG has been helping regulators and government agencies to play a proactive and relevant role in developing their digital agenda. “Our solutions provide key data that help regulators to migrate from paper-based institutions to digital ones. We will continue to play this role, and focusing on Big Data for better regulation, compliance monitoring, revenue assurance, fraud prevention and also Digital Identity. We believe that these will be the key enablers allowing Africa’s citizens to become active participants in the digital economy instead of mere consumers of imported digital goods. Digital ID will also be key to improve better government services delivery,” Claude concludes.

The post Africa’s digital economy needs cross-border cooperation to succeed first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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