Frost & Sullivan Predicts a Positive Turn of Events for the African ICT

Despite the global crisis that has affected nearly every country and market, the African ICT industry has been quite sheltered from the global economic downturn. African ICT industries have remained fairly robust and should continue to experience strong growth.

 

Frost & Sullivan says that there are many reasons why the African ICT industry has not been affected from the global economic slump. Just like Latin America, the African continent offers investors opportunities that counteract the negative global climate.

 

Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) ICT Industry Analyst Lindsey Mc Donald said that one of the biggest reasons why Africa remains strong is because it has developed a status of being one of the emerging market destinations of today. This reputation is expected to keep it in good standing as investors aim for growth markets in these turbulent times. Africa also provides companies a low cost center, and therefore, it makes a lot of sense for international companies to consider relocating certain business processes and facilities to this market.

 

Most of these relocations could include human resource matters, manufacturing and customer support. This is one of the key drivers for governments within Africa and Latin America who are focused on promoting their Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industries.

 

Thus, governments all across Africa have identified ICT as a priority area for investment and economic development. This is based on the view of ICT as an enabler for the development of other key industries. Concerted efforts on the part of governments have already showed results with their being significant strides in terms of job creation and investment.

 

Today, players from around the world have turned to Africa as a destination for investment and the best example of this is in the telecommunications sector, where you will now find international giants scrapping for a piece of the very lucrative pie that Africa has to offer.

McDonald went on to say, "The alternative business models presented by the internet are also expected to witness significant growth during this troubled time. This is due to the internet's ease of use, the fact that it is less cost intensive and its ability to tap into new talent pools, such as cooperation between Indian and South African counterparts in the BPO sector."

 

Frost & Sullivan believes Africa's growth potential is the continent's main value proposition, and is something that not many other global markets can currently match.