Sub-Saharan titans take on the world

While South African companies by and large continue to sit at home and wax lyrical about taking the plunge into Africa, within the sub-Saharan region there are already a large number of prominent home-grown enterprises simply getting on with business.

Dianna Games, the executive director of Africa @ Work and the author of Business in Africa, said that African companies that are big players in their own economies tend to be conglomerates with ­humble origins.

"Long before South African companies [were looking to Africa], there were so many market gaps. African entrepreneurs were the only ones willing to take the risk, and these companies gained critical mass.

"They grew in high-risk markets and so it was easy for them to expand into a wider range of markets," Games said.

They were then well positioned at a time of economic reform and growth. Financial services remain a big sector on the continent, a fact made clear by the Nigerian stock exchange, which is dominated by these kinds of companies, according to Games.

Typically, in lists of successful African companies, the top 10 is dominated by South African, Egyptian and Moroccan businesses. And although these rising stars may not yet necessarily be able to compete in size with multinationals, or even state-owned companies, they are capturing the attention of business in Africa. The Mail & Guardian takes a peek at some of the most notable movers and shakers.

The Dangote group
Founded by Africa's richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Dangote group is one of many rags-to-riches enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa, and the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa.

Established in May 1981 as a trading business with a focus on cement, the group diversified into a conglo-merate that also trades in sugar, flour, salt and fish.

source: www.mg.co.za

Dell Chromebook sends a clear signal

The unveiling of a new Chromebook is the clearest signal yet from Dell that it wants to cross the divide between the business user and the consumer.

For a company that is moving aggressively towards a software and solutions focus, Dell is making a lot of noise with its new hardware.

At the Dell World conference in Austin, held mid-Dec, it made yet another product announcements that signaled a reinforcement of its computer offerings. It unveiled its first Chromebook – a laptop using Google’s simplified Chrome OS operating system – targeted specifically at the education market in the United States and United Kingdom, and claiming 10 hours battery life.

The device follows the launch, in October, of two tablets – the Venue 7 and 8 – running Google’s Android operating system and a further two – the Venue Pro 8 and 11 – running on Microsoft Windows 8.1. And that’s just the beginning.

“We’re launching a lot more devices, a lot more form factors,” said Dell executive director of end-user computing, Margaret Franco in an interview. “How are all these devices making any sense? In this new world, it starts with the use case of the customer. By understanding the end user and the application of the device, you can marry the right device to the right customer.”

Combined with Dell’s growing software and services capability, the wide range of devices appears to make for a solution range rather than merely a device range.

source: www.marklives.com

The need for supersonic speed

What’s even more staggering is that the record was set on October 15, 1997 – 50 years and one day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying the experimental Bell X-1 – and it hasn’t been broken since. That’s 16 years and, despite rumours of attempts by US and Australian teams, Thrust SSC’s record remains intact. In a fast-paced world of ever more condensed computing power, material technology and advanced aerodynamic studies, humans have still not gone faster – on land at least.

As technical achievements go, it was up there with Concorde, man landing on the moon and the mass production of the microchip. It capped off a run of land and water speed records set by British speed fanatics that started with Malcolm Campbell in the 1920s, his son Donald during the 1950s and 1960s and culminated in the Thrust 2 (1983) and Thrust SSC projects headed by entrepreneur Richard Noble.

Noble and Green are a formidable team, and they’re now behind a project to smash their own record. And while land-speed records generate a huge amount of interest, they’ve taken a different approach to the project this time. Bloodhound SSCs (supersonic cars) target is the 1,000mph (1,609kph mark) – but the impetus behind the project isn’t simply to achieve another certificate to hang on the wall. It’s to get young school children interested in science and technology again.

Why? The UK is in desperate need of engineers, technicians and scientists. At the moment there are more university students learning psychology than engineering, and Green says the UK is simply not producing enough professionals in the technical sciences to cope with future demand. It was a problem highlighted by Paul Drayson, the UK minister for state defence equipment and support, during a meeting with Noble and Green seven years ago.

source: www.thenational.ae

Top Selling Gadgets In Nigeria This Season

A little over a decade ago, land phones and mobiles (or nought-nine-nought) were exclusive to the top class of Nigeria’s society. Put simply, the presence of a landline in a household represented affluence and cellphones were the private jets of this age. But with the advent of GSM technology in 2001, mobile telephony gradually became easily accessible, even to people living in the remotest part of Nigeria.

Between 2009 – 2010, the smartphone trend, which was also exclusive to a certain class of the country’s over 170 million population, surfaced. However, when Chinese phone maker Tecno ventured into the Nigerian market it presented a opportunity for Nigeria’s fast-rising middle class to access services available on smartphones. Other phone makers, i.e. Solo Phone, soon followed suit, providing cheap, yet standard services on affordable smartphonesto all who move with the trend of new gadgets in the country’s increasingly demanding and tech-savvy population.

In 2013, the “gadget boom” continued with the launch of a series of eye-catching phones, tablets, and gadgets and stiff competition for market share between major phone makers, i.e. Samsung, Apple, Tecno and Blackberry (Yes, Blackberry still accounts for a significant percentage of the market share in Nigeria), while mobile penetration experienced a surge across the Africa. Thus, consumers have benefited from innovative competition between phone makers, with citizens now afforded the luxury to select from a wider range of products.

During this festive season, our team scanned through the retail markets to spot a few of the top selling devices

source: www.ventures-africa.com

Mobile biometrics support Benin vaccine programme

A recent investment of $695,431 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide new technology and ongoing support for the expansion—both geographic and functional—of mobile vaccine registry systems in health facilities in Benin, West Africa.

This investment will enable new health centers to receive the resources and training necessary to effectively integrate the VaxTrac system into their vaccination program with the goal of improving record-keeping practices, reducing vaccine waste, and improving schedule adherence, especially for children under the age of five.

The VaxTrac system is a suite of data collection and analysis tools tailored specifically for immunization programs in developing countries. It uses a technology portfolio comprised of laptops, tablets and mobile phones to collect data and fingerprint scanners to accurately identify patients. This serves to overcome the primary driver of the current inefficiency in the vaccine delivery system: a lack of information.

In addition to the geographic expansion, VaxTrac will also lead an effort in Benin to re-evaluate the vaccine information management system from a more holistic perspective, integrating the previously segregated functions of health records, population statistics, stock management, and cold chain performance monitoring. This activity will also identify the broad array of stakeholders throughout the vaccination process and how they interact with system data. Underlying all of these activities is the motivation that technology can—when thoughtfully applied in combination with a thorough understanding of the unique user requirements of community health workers—greatly facilitate efficiency and effectiveness improvements in the vaccine delivery system.

source: www.biztechafrica.com

African Phone Provider Sets Up in Capital

The telecommunications company Vodacom Group officially opened its representative office in Addis Ababa on December 3, 2013. The ceremony was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, and dignitaries including the British ambassador to Ethiopia.

The chief operating officer (COO) of Vodacom International Limited, Romeo Kumalo, said during the launch, "Ethiopia is a very important market to us. We obtained our investment license and commercial registration several months ago, and we hope to develop a long-term relationship with the Ethiopian people and learn more about this exciting market."

The COO added, "We are starting with a small staff to engage with our international customers, such as Kenya Airways and DHL, and at the same time looking closely at the Ethiopian telecom market, as we hope to join the sector."

"But to give a telecom service it might take too long, but we will wait to see what will happen," he said. "But until then we will work closely with Ethiopian people and engage in different social affairs, such as establishing partnerships with different NGOs."

In this regard, Vodacom has signed a partnership agreement with the Federal Ministry of Health and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). They aim to establish low cost neo--natal intensive care units in Shashemene Hospital of the Oromia region and Sodo Hospital in the Southern Nation's Nationalities and Peoples Region, with the view to save the lives of pre-term and at-risk newborn babies.

source: www.allafrica.com

Cyber security concerns for 2014 and beyond

Trend Micro Incorporated has released its annual security predictions report, “Blurring Boundaries: Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2014 and Beyond.” The outlook cites that one major data breach will occur every month next year, and advanced mobile banking and targeted attacks will accelerate. Critical infrastructure threats, as well as emerging security challenges from the Internet of Everything (IoE) and Deep Web, are also highlighted. The report parallels Trend Micro’s long-term projections in the recently released nine-part online video drama entitled, “2020: The Series,” depicting a technology saturated society and the corresponding cyber threats.

“We see the sophistication of threats expanding at a rapid pace, which will impact individuals, businesses and governments alike,” said Gregory Anderson, country manager at Trend Micro, South Africa. “From mobile banking vulnerabilities and targeted attacks, to growing privacy concerns and the potential of a major breach each month, 2014 promises to be a prolific year for cybercrime. We will also see the evolution of the IoE, which serves as a prelude to the surge in technological advancements as the decade closes.”

source: www.biztechafrica.com