Africa stands to gain $300m via digitalization by 2026 – Siemens
Africa’s economy stands to gain a potential $300 million by 2026 via the adoption of digitalization in industrial sectors.
This is the outcome of the Siemens 2017 African Digitalization Maturity Report which has found that digital technology will drive African development rather than disrupt it and “future business leaders will be drawn from the 200 million Africans aged between 15 and 25 who are early adopters of technology.”
The Report measures the extent to which African countries have the business, legal and regulatory environments to backing digitalization, as well as infrastructure indicators – such as access to international bandwidth, mobile network coverage and mobile phone penetration, costs of broadband and mobile phone access.
Siemens also said it reviewed Africa’s manufacturing, energy and transport industries, based on their culture of innovation, digital operations and digital customer offerings.
The company designated South Africa as ‘Africa’s digitalization leader’ because of its diverse economy and high-quality broadband infrastructure.
Siemens proposes digitalization has the potential to address ongoing challenges in Africa, including unstable and costly power supply. “Adoption of digital technologies can enable and support decentralized power generation using renewable energy, combined with intelligent grid management.”
In her foreword published in the Report, Sabine Dall’Omo, Siemens CEO, Southern and Eastern Africa, remarked that if Africa is to compete in the digital age, a shift in traditional thinking is required. If the continent is able to foster collaboration in order to change mindsets, implement policy and encourage knowledge sharing and execution, it is likely that digitalization will happen rapidly.
Siemens also mentioned in a statement global concern over the impact of automation and digitalization on jobs.
“Digitalization does not mean an economy needs to suffer direct job losses. Instead of making an employee obsolete, digital technology redefines the role of the worker, often leading to greater skills development
