Business software firm SAP has been surging ahead with expanding its business in Africa this decade.
And after recently partnering up with mobile operator MTN to launch a mobile Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) offering for small businesses, the company is not just targeting large corporates but also SMEs.
Editor of ITWeb Africa Gareth van Zyl has posed a few questions to SAP Africa chief executive office Pfungwa Serima about the company’s current state of business on the continent.:
GARETH VAN ZYL: SAP recently partnered up with MTN to launch a mobile ERP offering in South Africa. Is it possible to tell me how the project has done thus far and what the takeup of it has been like?
PFUNGWA SERIMA: The offering was only launched recently, so it’s too early to provide details. The important thing about this offering is that it’s aimed directly at the burgeoning African SME market, which remains a key focus area for us. This offering highlights the trend of local SMEs really starting to leverage technology to position themselves for growth into regional and international markets, and to compete with far bigger enterprises.
GARETH VAN ZYL: What is the extent of SAP's business in Africa. That is, is it possible to provide us with a number on how many companies use your offering in Africa? Also, how many partners do you have in Africa?
PFUNGWA SERIMA: SAP Africa covers 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa through five hubs: Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, French and Portuguese-speaking Africa. With over 50%+ market share in Africa, we have more than 1 300+ customers on the continent, and nearly 250 accredited partners. 18 out of the top 20 African companies run SAP.
GARETH VAN ZYL: What are the biggest challenges that SAP faces in terms of growing its market share in Africa?
PFUNGWA SERIMA: The biggest challenges we see right now are around infrastructure, with connectivity remaining an issue on the continent. We’re also working very hard to support the growth of IT and business skills through our Skills for Africa programme. Robust skills are what we and our broader ecosystem need desperately if Africa is to grow at the levels projected.
GARETH VAN ZYL: What are SAP's three biggest markets in Africa? What are SAP's three fastest growing markets in Africa?
PFUNGWA SERIMA: In sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are the two biggest markets after South Africa – and the two are also the two fastest-growing markets on the continent, along with Angola, where we’re seeing a huge boom around the resources sector.
GARETH VAN ZYL: What can users expect to see from SAP down the line, say within the next 18 months?
PFUNGWA SERIMA: In general, Africa has been witnessing significant IT investments as the region plays catch-up with the more developed global markets and experiences a rapid increase in IT maturity. Growth in spending on IT - and software - will undoubtedly continue in 2013 and beyond, although the global economic uncertainty will have a moderate dampening effect in the short term in some countries and sectors.
In the next 18 months, we’re going to see a lot more focus on cloud-based technologies in Africa as connectivity continues to improve. SAP has a compelling Cloud story to tell. We also see enterprise mobility growing strongly. While the mobilisation of enterprise applications is still at a relatively early stage in some countries in Africa, the use of mobile device management tools is expected to rise significantly. Finally, there’s a huge interest in analytics and big data technologies, and here we see our flagship SAP HANA technology laying a key role in our growth plans for the continent.
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