Technology Trends That Will Drive Increased Opportunity For African Start-ups In 2016
As 2016 gradually unfolds, first I would like to wish you a great success this year in all your endeavors and also take this time to share few insights around Technology Trends that will drive increased opportunity for African Start-ups in 2016.Certainly the year calls for more innovation in Africa.
Innovation for any country or people does not come by mere wishing it, Innovation is driven by huge investments in research and development, promoting greater entrepreneurship spirit. These are the bedrocks on which prosperous economies are built. It is easy to know where a country or continent is heading to by what they are investing their time and money in today. Nations who are looking at the future invest in research and development, so it becomes easy to understand and see where the future is going with technology.
No wonder countries like the United States, Israel, Finland, Japan, Korea, China, Germany are among the leading economies around the world. They invest in Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship through Research and Development. They are investing in Artificial intelligence, Robotics, Aerospace explorations, Nanotechnology, Internet of Things,3D printing, Human-centered designs you name it.
What are we investing in Africa? Africa really needs to drive Innovation at this time like never before especially with dwindling oil prices and unpredictable economic decline. Governance across Africa needs to be stable, private and public partnership should be stronger this year like never before.
Growth and Innovation in these Key sectors in Africa should be encouraged
The following key sectors will provide a greater opportunity for Africa in 2016.They are Agriculture, Energy, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Infrastructure, Education, Health, Solid Minerals and then Technology. The deeper application of Information and Communications Technology in these sectors will make a whole lot of difference for Africa.
Increased Awareness in the use of Big Data, Cloud and Internet of Things will Create Several Opportunities.
There has been an increased awareness in Big data analytics, adoption of Cloud and the Internet of Things across the government, businesses, Organizations and Start ups in Africa. I believe this year as we begin to explore more on these trends and its real life application, there will be a lot of opportunities that will be created. We are seeing talks around building Smart cities, Smart government and also Smart Businesses. All of these are enabled by these trends putting realities into our hands.
Mobility, Mobile Computing and Financial Technology will Drive eCommerce and Social Businesses
Africa needs to turn her huge potentials around mobile and mobile computing to drive great innovation in FinTech,ecommerce and social commerce. Experts have already said that Financial Technology will grow exponentially in emerging markets including Africa. The application of mobile in Agriculture, Health, Education,mCommerce is largely untapped in the region. Africa has great potentials to drive businesses through social media that is why Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter are beginning to make more investments in the African Market.
Renewable Energy
There are great opportunities for innovations around renewable, alternative energy or green energy sources in Africa. We have abundance of natural materials often looked at as challenges, that can be converted into renewable energy, we need to start building companies that will explore these alternative sources of energy production and power Africa.
Start-Ups to Build Africa’s Future Today
Despite how the economy will look in 2016,there will be more investment opportunities for start-ups in Africa who will innovate around these key trends that I have mentioned above. They will be part of building Africa’s future which we all desire to see. Then 2016 will be just what we make it!
Additional articles:
http://techtrendsng.com/techtrends-top-10-articles-of-2015/
https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/07/which-countries-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development/
https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/07/these-are-the-most-innovative-countries-in-the-world/
http://www.dalberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/LIIWA.pdf
http://techtrendsng.com/top-3-predictions-for-fintech-mobile-money-and-financial-inclusion-in-2016/
