DHL Technology conference, experts set to tap into Africa’s technology growth

ITRealms

The DHL 5^th annual Global Technology conference, under the theme, “Connecting Markets, Trends and People”, came to an end in Dubai with over 300 experts and delegates predicting continued strong growth in the technology sector across African countries, and setting modalities on how to best navigate existing challenges and trade barriers and tap into the growth, ITRealms reports.

ITRealms gathered that the conference, a three day program of plenary sessions and workshops, covered several technological topics including the latest trends, innovations and solutions impacting the technology supply chain and focusing on the Middle East and Africa as key regions of interest with high growth potential.

Ashish Thakkar, Founder and CEO of Mara Group, in a keynote address on ‘Inspiring Africa and capturing chances’, made his case for doing business in Africa and advised companies to move beyond negative media hype and become familiar with African countries on the ground in order to explore and tap into the tremendous potential that exists.

With the internet usage on mobile phones, predicted to increase 20-fold in the next five years in Africa, which is double the rate of growth in the rest of the world. The technology experts also predicted a continued growth in the technology sector across Africa, with savvy entrepreneurs such as Shagaya and Oviosu leading the way in e-commerce and mobile payments, and technology segments such as mobile phones.

Delegates at DHL’s Technology conference as ITRealms gathered, learnt about African consumers’ preferences, such as paying retailers via mobile phone rather than cash and an increasing appetite for well-priced mobile devices, fuelled by a rapidly growing middle class.

Confirming this, Rob Siegers, President, Global Technology Sector, DHL said: “The technology sector is a highly dynamic industry and the pace of change is rapid.   We currently see two distinct trends: the advance of new technologies, such as the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing and others which are changing business models as technology companies are looking to enhance their products by building services around them – and an increasing focus on tapping into growth in emerging nations”.

He also added that, “While growth is slowing in some of the traditional markets, emerging nations are gaining importance for technology companies, and Africa is of particular interest to many of our customers”.  

Charles Brewer, Managing Director of DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa, stating the company’s vision for the conference said, “We had a team of logistics experts from across Africa on hand to facilitate knowledge sharing and networking, demonstrating that DHL is a strong partner to the technology sector across the continent.”

DHL, as gathered by ITRealms, is the world’s leading logistics service provider and has been in Africa for 37 years, well positioned to support customers with their end-to-end supply chains and tailor-made logistics solutions to help them overcome challenges and tap into the continent’s tremendous growth opportunities.  

Daniel Nsolibe/Ed,Ops.

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