Africa's ICT skills dilemma is exacerbated by the challenge of not having enough students trained in the sector, as well as all-too-familiar 'brain drain' with some of the best talent leaving the continent.

This is French telecom Orange's take on the situation and the company believes that digital transformation can- and will make a difference, but issues like regulation still stands in the way of progress.

Speaking on the back of the launch of 'La French Tech' digital skills development initiative this week in Johannesburg, Yannick Decaux, Country Manager and Sales Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa, Orange Business Services, said technologies continue to evolve quickly, so it is important to learn how to learn.

"ICT is not a skill you learn and then you know... it is a lifetime learning journey," he said. "There is innovation in Africa, but disproportionate to the size of the continent."

Decaux says regulation remains a key challenge to increasing the continent's ICT capacity. "We see voice regulation slowing down the adoption of unified communication and collaboration solutions. There are new challenges around the regulation of cloud computing, for instance on the localisation of data."

La French Tech is a platform that facilitates ongoing collaboration between the French Tech ecosystem and that within South Africa to build what Orange describes as 'an African digital ecosystem'.

Decaux says there is disparity between countries in Africa, with some, including Egypt and South Africa, being in a better position than others. However, the digital economy is levelling the playing field within Africa, as well as between the continent and its global competitors. "It is easier than ever for African start-ups to expand into other markets," he adds.

Regulation infringing on capacity building

The telco says it remains committed to being a key enabler of Africa's ICT infrastructure development and at this point in time, digital transformation is a game changer and key opportunity for Africa.

"Pressure on the price of resources puts pressure on the mining, oil and gas players and can be a driver to adopt innovation to reduce costs. This is what AngloGold Ashanti did, moving their key applications to a cloud computing platform with Orange. If we see an economic slowdown in some key economies like South Africa and Nigeria, there is still strong growth on the continent.

Orange has put in place a pan-African network and ICT infrastructure to help businesses take advantage of this potential in the region, and even beyond," says Decaux.

Christophe Viarnaud, co-founder, CEO of Methys and Lead Ambassador of Cape Town French Tech, said, "We have been working very hard over the past few months to create a team to lead the initiatives of the French Tech in South Africa and to develop our capacity from the core 6-year-old Methys Labs structure. Today we are pleased to announce two milestones. Firstly, we received a record number of South African applications for French Tech Tickets, and we'll take two South African start-ups to Paris in October. Secondly our Cape Town Labs will open in November, an additional 400 square meters office facility dedicated to digital innovation in the Century City precinct to welcome tens of start-up and digital entrepreneurs in our incubation and acceleration program. We are in discussion with SEDA to develop an incubation partnership".