The sentiment that sub-Saharan Africa has been lagging behind in adaptation of technology, innovation in mobile phone platforms notwithstanding can be countered. The recent such technology-based revolution includes mobile money transfer platform that kickstarted in East Africa and has taken the world by storm. However, Africa is projected to fast become a leader in the future.

What has been a worrisome trend is that digital divide between individual countries and the schism between the urban and the rural Africans have created disparities that need to be addressed. On policy and social fronts, the sheer courage of the leadership admitting that they are out of depth on matters digital will help create learning nations where leaders recognize that keeping up with technological advances is not an option – many of them are still living in 19th century and are not bothered.

However, although slower in development of digital infrastructure, all is not lost in the continent, as evidenced today in the rapid growth of the digital economy, broadly defined as the use of digital technologies to facilitate business transactions, including production, exchange and consumption, and encompassing e-commerce, digitally delivered services, online payments and digital media.

However, as some African countries upgrade from 4G to 5G platforms in the coming years, earlier technologies are also likely to grow in keep with emerging technology, and as a result developments, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and autonomous vehicles will be touching on the lives of almost every African. This means that these technologies need be compatible and upgradable with the new technologies.

This in turn will culminate to a substantial rise of digital trade – the use of digital tools to exchange goods and services across countries either through digital intermediation or digital delivery, highlights the growth of information, products, services and financial flows exchanged through the Internet and underpinned by global data flows.

Maser takes to e-commerce

The economic implications of the growth of digital trade are yet to be fully understood. Rapidity of how things are happening is overwhelming.
This digital gap between developing and developed countries is often referred to as the ‘digital divide’. The developed countries are not going to stop and wait for the developing countries to catch up. According to the Maser founder and CEO, interdependence among the countries and the need and the ease to liberalize trade, brought about by digital revolution will be important drivers of the economies in future.

Originally, digital divide was viewed as disparities in internet connectivity between countries, especially developed and developing. As more and more aspects of trade are emerging now including e-commerce, companies are reacting to it by being connected to their customers wherever they may be including Africa.

“Kenya was one of the places where customers approached us through email and direct contact and for that reason, we understood the market potential of Kenya. Later on some customers told us about the business potential of e-commerce platform, Jumia,” he expounds. “This led us to contemplate opening offices for e-commerce business,” he said.

Could investment in manufacture of TVs in Nigeria that Maser is now carrying out be considered a tool for addressing digital divide? Yes, so long as there is technological and knowledge flow from one country to another, there is bound to be a certain degree of reducing of digital divide.

“By addressing the need for closing the digital divide in Africa, the television, though not as like the mobile phone, has in itself been in the forefront in these aspects. We have in the markets in Africa what is referred to as smart TVs that have revolutionized viewing in our living rooms – TVs that are fully internet compatible to give you the benefits of streaming music and other content,” he adds.

Suri, an Indian-born mechanical engineer, started his Maser brand in UAE that manufacture TV sets and other household in Africa, growing the business in leaps and bounds to expand to Africa where it is gradually establishing its foot-hold, starting from Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.