The man at the helm of telecommunications services provider Telkom South Africa believes technology remains one of the more effective ways to address challenges facing Africa.

Speaking at the BCX Summit on disruptive technology in Johannesburg today, Telkom Group CEO Sipho Maseko listed access to technology as one of the main challenges facing the continent, along with power supply, food and water.

"There is a need for us to have a thorough conversation about 'the challenges that Africa is confronted with over the next hundred years' - if we are able to get around them and be able to equalise society. For us technology is one of the big instruments that can enable us to cross the digital divide."

Maseko said the continent cannot thrive with lingering contrasts which results in some having access to world-class technology and resources, while others have none or very little.

"Africa has been driven by inequality for a long time. How do we make sure that the technology that we have access to- and that we have an ability to invest in can begin to narrow the divide that has been created by all forms of inequality? Inequality is not a good thing. Quite a lot of countries find themselves unable to breakthrough because of the depths of the inequality that they have. It may be racial inequality, income inequality or gender inequality. All forms of inequality create a barrier for humankind to go forward and what we are thinking about is how to narrow that band so that this inequality can be reduced for all of us to have a fair shot in life."

Maseko said initiatives to minimise inequality, such as a good quality education, have to be environmentally sustainable and widely accessible.

"We cannot introduce technology for the sake of technology. It must mean something. It must have the right social impact. If it can't solve practical problems then it is kind of not useful... if technology or science does not help us solve practical problems then we have it for its own sake. We need to use these cool solutions to solve problems of education, of health, of backwardness, of disease - all of the things that actually afflict the society that we have."

Maseko cited Telkom's investment of R250 million over the next three years to teach coding skills to young learners, as well as recent partnerships between the telecommunications company and General Electric for solutions to fundamental problems in education.

"We are willing to partner with anyone else who wants to change the country as fast as we want to change it. Finding African solutions to African challenges is a very important thing and this is not to say that we can't be connected with the rest of the world - we have to be connected to the rest of the world, but it is dealing with different kinds of problems. We need to find ways of dealing with our own problems and care deeply enough about solving them."