As the 2019 edition of the Africa CEO Forum ended in Kigali, Rwanda capital on Tuesday, some chief executives of multinational companies, who attended the Forum, were at Globacom’s stand to explore how the operator’s connectivity solutions can drive their business growth.
Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, whose country hosted the conference, was the first to discuss Globacom’s connectivity solutions at a meeting with Globacom Executive Vice Chairman, Mrs Bella Disu. He discussed areas of collaboration between Rwanda and Globacom.
Others who visited Globacom’s stand to hold discussions with the company’s officials included Group Chief Executive Officer of Togo-based Ecobank, Ade Adeyemi; Chairman, KPMG Africa, Kunle Elebute; Group Chief Executive Officer of Ark Hudson, Ugo Ikpeazu, and Head of Business, Mara Phone, James Kasugi.
They were also joined by Chairman of MTN, Cameroon, Colin Mukete; Chief Executive Officer, Credit Registry, Jameelah Sharrieff; Chief Executive Officer of Sodeico of Congo Democratic Republic, Djo Falanga, and Director General of Azur of Gabon, Jean Obambi.
The business executives held discussions ranging from Internet connectivity, mobile money solutions; Wide Area Connectivity (WAN); credit check for postpaid subscribers, to bundled mobile solutions for government establishments, in a bid to deepening business growth in the continent.
Earlier at the Digital Economy session, Mrs Disu canvassed the need for governments across the continent to create the enabling environment for telecommunication companies to connect cities and rural communities to the internet. She said this would help operators adopt digital solutions that would make Africa catch up with global trends.
Said Mrs Disu: “The world is experiencing rapid digital transformation, and because we live in an exponential world, it’s no longer a question of ‘do I have to innovate’, we must innovate. So telecom operators will spearhead this innovation. First, we provide the infrastructure, the network, the platforms and connectivity for digital transformation to occur, and the resulting effect is big data, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and internet of things which connects everything to everybody. So businesses must run on new business models to stay in business”.
She referred to the World Bank report which showed that 10% increase in internet access directly led to 1.8% boost in the gross domestic product (GDP) and called for more internet access.
