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IT’S the age of studying anytime, any-

where. Digital disruption is changing the world

and education is no different. Quality education

has emerged from the ivy-covered halls of aca-

demia into homes, libraries, coffee shops and

internet cafes.

Massive open online courses, or MOOCs

as they’re colloquially known, are one thing.

Mostly free, their popularity has skyrocketed

since the New York Times (NYT) named 2012

‘the year of the MOOC’. But paid-for tertiary

degrees – and business degrees in particular

– are also seeing significant uptake.

Online learning is coming of age. And

nowhere is this more relevant than Africa,

which has a shortage of traditional offerings

to meet a massive demand. Many traditional

universities on the continent are now including

business degrees and, in so doing, opening

up a world of opportunity to its students.

The continent’s middle class is expanding,

economic dynamism is generating business

opportunities and with a youthful, increasingly

urbanised population, there is a need for

young people with business skills. In the past,

‘We have students logging in from all over the world, while waiting at airports or working construction sites’

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Online learning is coming of age, especially in Africa, where traditional and newcomer tertiary institutions are going digital to meet the demand for quality, internationally accredited courses.

BY LUCY PARKER

THOUGHTSCHOOL OF

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HIGHLIGHTED CONTENT

SECTORS ICT Telecommunications Education Health Agriculture Energy Infrastructure Resources Finance Water Property Tourism

A F R I C A N

African Decisions is a comprehensive quarterly corporate and government journal designed to reflect the developing nature of Africa’s intercontinental and international trade environment. It offers readers a structured coverage of business intelligence tailored to the needs of those who do business in, or with, Africa.

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AGRICULTURE

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Africa needs more tech innovation in the agricultural sector to improve

its levels of food security.BY DENENE ERASMUS

VISIONFIELD OF

IN many areas, including the uptake of

mechanisation, access to digital technolo-

gies and the availability and use of improved

seed, Africa’s farmers lag far behind the rest

of the world.

In fact, according to the African Agricultural

Technology Foundation (AATF), which is active

in 13 countries in East, Southern and West

Africa, the agricultural sector of sub-Saharan

Africa is the least mechanised in the world,

and farmers here have on average a tenth of

the mechanised tools of their peers in other

developing regions.

The AATF runs a number of projects aimed

at addressing challenges hindering efficiency

gains in key African staples such as maize, rice,

cassava, cowpeas, bananas and potatoes.

In a report on mechanisation and digital

agriculture, the AATF states that the lack

of mechanisation ‘has undermined the

competitiveness of African farmers, reducing

their productivity and exacerbating a vicious

cycle where they are unable to invest in

modern machinery and in digital technology

that they need’.

To illustrate the gains that can be achieved

from improving the way in which crops are

produced by Africa’s predominantly small-

holder farming sector, the AATF refers to its

Cassava Mechanisation and Agroprocessing

Project (CAMAP), which aims to increase the

operational efficiency and improve market

linkages for smallholder farmers in Nigeria,

Uganda and Zambia.

Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa achieve

yields of roughly eight tons per hectare on

average, which is about a third of that pro-

duced by their Asian and Latin American

counterparts. By making use of mechani-

sation, the farmers who participated in the

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THE GAPS

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As fibre is rolled out across the continent, and more cities tap into fast, uncapped broadband internet, the next phase,

targeting rural and remote areas, is beginning.BY MARK VAN DIJK

THE GAPSPLUGGING

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COVER INTERVIEW

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‘Broadband connectivity has become a utility and is no longer a luxury. We have to ensure that it works efficiently

and cost-effectively to bring about positive change’

FOUNDATIONPOINTS

Vino Govender, executive: strategy, mergers and acquisitions and innovation at Dark Fibre Africa, on

building the digital highways to service the continent.BY KERRY DIMMER

A number of recent studies prove there

is a strong correlation between broadband

penetration, enabled by fibre, and labour

productivity and economic growth in

a country. Governments know this and are

thus turning to digital technologies to

unlock the benefits and mitigate the risks

that these trends present.

Digital services, such as e-commerce,

telemedicine, e-health, e-education, smart-

city services, the internet of things, and smart

manufacturing will be, and in some cases are

being, consumed through a variety of fixed-

and wireless-access technologies. The back-

haul networks behind these have to be resi-

lient and scalable to support the resulting

exponential growth in traffic. This is where

fibre comes into play: it provides reliable

high-speed broadband connectivity to

meet these demands.

However, building the digital highways

to deliver these technologies and services

is no small task, bearing in mind that fibre

installation is also capital intensive.

Two years ago, the continent’s fibre

network totalled 559 000 km, according to

the Future of African Backbone & Metro

Fibre Networks, a research report by Xalam

Analytics. This is anticipated to grow to

700 000 km by the end of 2019. That is

some 640 000 km more than the yet-to-be-

completed Trans-African Highway network

that aims to promote trade and alleviate

poverty through road-based corridors.

The viability of fibre-infrastructure roll-

outs depends not only on demand but

also on density of demand. While this is

easily achieved in the metro environs, it

is far more challenging in peri-urban and

rural areas.

‘This challenge is, however, not restric-

ted to South Africa,’ says Vino Govender,

executive: strategy, mergers and acquisi-

tions, and innovation at Dark Fibre Africa

(DFA), the pioneer of wholesale open-

access fibre infrastructure in South Africa.

‘It is pervasive around the globe, even in

developed markets.’

To address the challenge of extending

fibre connectivity to peri-urban and rural

areas, what needs to be considered are

alternative avenues, says Govender, not

least of which includes the introduction of

policies that promote and support the exten-

sion of high-speed fibre access to these areas

and the subsidising of capital and equipment

expenses. Other incentives, such as tax breaks

and ready access to rights of way, will also be

enablers for building fibre networks, which in

turn bring about social upliftment.

‘The purpose of such policies, subsidies

and incentives is to reduce and optimise

the input costs for delivering broadband to

underserved communities. As nations invest

further into digital literacy, SMME develop-

ment, e-government services and local-

language content development, the demand

and uptake of digital services and fibre

connectivity is stimulated.’

However, telecoms providers, such as

internet services providers (ISPs), need to

be able to deliver these services affordably.

Govender explains that one of the best

ways for them to manage costs is by using

an open-access infrastructure provider rather

than building their own costly infrastructure.

‘It gives telecoms providers cost-effective

access to existing fibre. The open-access

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LEADER

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STRIKE FORCE

From unsafe mobile apps and outdated software to laxness in

using effective antivirus blockers, individuals and businesses are leaving themselves vulnerable

to cyberattack.BY MARK VAN DIJK

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