LOUIS Avenant, Senior Project Manager at Itemate Solutions, the South African software solutions and consulting firm, foresees a dynamic year ahead for the African telecom industry in 2024. Projections hint at an impressive $2.24bn growth between 2020 and 2024, predominantly fuelled by the rollout of high-speed 5G connectivity and an expanded suite of services, especially in the financial domain, driving sustained expansion.
According to Avenant, after extensive discussions with telecom leaders across East, West, and Southern Africa, common hurdles have emerged. Telcos are actively seeking strategies to fortify existing revenue streams, a sentiment echoed by Avenant. He emphasises the importance of gaining enhanced visibility and control over business-to-business (B2B) partnerships. Additionally, there’s a notable drive to introduce customer-centric services and pioneering innovations to ensure continued profitability amidst intensifying competition.
Key trends for African telcos in 2024, as per Louis Avenant:
- Digitalisation for improved B2B visibility:
- Avenant highlights the heavy reliance of African telco markets on dealers and resellers but points out the challenges arising from inadequate digital tools hindering visibility into B2B channels.
- He suggests that innovative technological platforms could offer much-needed efficiency and insight downstream, reshaping telcos’ strategic edge via dealer channels.
- Avenant stresses the significance of incentives, such as discounts, to motivate dealers to embrace digital tools, thus unlocking untapped revenue prospects.
- Innovation fuelling enhanced customer experiences:
- Avenant underscores how digitalisation empowers telcos to present a broader spectrum of products and services, ultimately enriching customer experiences.
- He advocates for the integration of tailored financial services, mobile money, and innovations like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) at the point of sale, ensuring a seamless customer journey.
- Compliance with regulations, particularly Know Your Customer (KYC), remains a critical aspect highlighted by Avenant for successful service delivery.
- Rapid eSIM adoption propelled by smartphone surge:
- Avenant discusses the accelerating shift from feature phones to smartphones, driving the adoption of eSIMs.
- He predicts that younger demographics, attracted to social media and Africa’s growing e-commerce landscape, will be the primary drivers of eSIM growth.
- Avenant anticipates extensive social media campaigns by telcos aimed at enticing younger users to smartphones, enabling a broader range of revenue-generating services.
With insights from Avenant, , it’s evident that embracing digitalisation, fostering innovation, and capitalising on eSIM adoption will remain pivotal strategies for sustained success in 2024 and beyond within the African telecom sector.