Internet giant, Google and the International Finance Corporation have urged tech startups to collaborate with the government to fast-track commercialisation of their products.
Summary
- With mobile software products being developed for various sectors, the study observed that government support will help the startups to thrive leading to creation of jobs for the youth.
- This could include a startup funding ecosystem as well as a local angel investors’ platform.
- The observation builds on an emerging culture where foreign-based angel investors inject equity into local startups that later become PanAfrican corporations, among them Africa’s Talking, Cellulant, CarePay, Sendy and KAPS among others.
Speaking when they issued the e-Conomy Africa 2020 report, the two global entities said startup-government partnerships will enhance consumer trust on the platforms, thereby enabling e-commerce and e-government services to thrive.
“A robust collaboration between the private and public sectors is imperative to ensuring that African entrepreneurs succeed, not only in their home countries and regions, but in the global marketplace. Startups and the entrepreneurs who create them are the future of the continent,” the report said.
With mobile software products being developed for various sectors, the study observed that government support will help the startups to thrive leading to creation of jobs for the youth. This could include a startup funding ecosystem as well as a local angel investors’ platform.
The observation builds on an emerging culture where foreign-based angel investors inject equity into local startups that later become PanAfrican corporations, among them Africa’s Talking, Cellulant, CarePay, Sendy and KAPS among others.
“This is an opportune moment to tap into the power of the continent’s tech startups for much-needed solutions to increase access to education, healthcare, and finance, and ensure a more resilient recovery, making Africa a world leader in digital innovation and beyond,” said IFC Interim managing director Stephanie von Friedeburg.
The study notes that collaboration could see emergence of new e-businesses that benefit governments, people and the private sector, especially after Covid-19 pandemic that has necessitated major changes in the way people do business.
With health protocols requiring less human interaction, many public sector players now prefer virtual meetings with payments made on cashless platforms to reducing manual processes.
“The continued operation of the informal sector is supported by e-Logistics and e-Commerce supply chain startups. New partnerships and business models like these will likely continue to influence startups across all industry sectors, even beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kenya’s investment in a fibre-optic national backbone has created a ready e-platform that startups ride on in deepening digitisation via provision of software products that solve various challenges.
It adds that for Kenyans to fully utilise the available e-opportunities, there is need to enhance training of software developers as Kenya only has 58,175 software developers working in corporations, small and medium enterprises and one-man outfits.
Google Africa director Nitin Gajria said Google plans to train 100,000 developers in the next five yearson mobile technologies and platforms.
No comments :
Post a Comment