East Africa is recurringly featured in the discourse about socio-economic growth in Africa because of its innate strengths and resources.
The region is home to over 146 million people with a common dream from Kenya, the largest economy, to Burundi, the smallest: Prosperity.
Today, in view of all the unprecedented opportunities that digitalisation presents for nations with systemic challenges, the East African dream for prosperity is more alive than ever.
Many research findings show that a deeply integrated and competitive digital market among the EAC countries alone can boost the GDP by about $2.6 billion.
Yet, the Internet penetration in East Africa is hovering at about 26 percent — considerably lower than the global average of 62.5 percent.
While that status quo calls for concrete measures, stakeholders must also come to terms with pressing issues such as climate change, escalating energy costs, and supply chain disruptions.
That priority is more pronounced in chief economic sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, where legacy systems, obsolete processes, and inefficiencies remain unchecked.
A case study following its entry into Kenya put things in better perspective for Schneider Electric.
Integrating systems
Businesses in conservative sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing tend to harbour an entrenched aversion toward digital transformation.
More often than not, such complacency leads to systems and processes outliving their purposes – and even more so in economies where internet penetration is low.
As part of the change, Schneider started its Kenyan project by integrating existing legacy systems such as Navision, as well as adding new people management and learning tools into the mix.
These became the bedrock for further digitalisation.
The insights thus derived can help optimise supply-and-demand forecasting, reduce inventory, and build readiness against disruptions.
Such possibilities are of great consequence in East Africa, where value-chain gaps, unreliable power, and archaic business models are hindering growth.
Saving energy and costs
The IEA estimates East Africa’s GDP to reduce by up to 15 percent as a result of the temperature rise.
So, while the regional contribution to global emissions is relatively low, East Africa must adapt to climate risks faster than most, including leveraging digitalisation to help businesses unlock savings in energy and associated costs while reducing their overall carbon footprint.
