ICT focused market research, analysis, advisory and consulting house Africa Analysis has paid tribute to analyst Richard Hurst who passed away at the weekend.

Dobek Pater, Managing Director at Africa Analysis has reflected on some of the invaluable insights that Hurst provided through his analysis of the African ICT market.

"Africa Analysis is deeply saddened to have lost a colleague, a company director and a friend in Richard. As Director: Enterprise Research, Richard was one of the key role players at Africa Analysis and an integral member of the management team. His passing is also a deep loss for the ICT market in South Africa and other markets in Africa, given his keen insights, market analysis ability and passion for the industry. Richard was well-known and respected, often sharing his views on the market in the media and at public fora, such as various conferences. He was also a very good human being, who cared for the community around him and worked towards its improvement. Richard will be greatly missed both at Africa Analysis and in the ICT industry."

During his career, Hurst covered areas such as mobile and fixed networks, as well as broadband on the fixed and wireless platforms. He was also interested in broadcasting and the pay-TV markets in the Middle East and Africa region, and was known to be always there to share his knowledge and commentary with journalists, editors and the rest of the IT industry.

Fellow analyst Mark Walker, regional director of IDC MEA, commented: "Richard was a friend, officer, gentleman and a remarkable analyst. He will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace."

Hurst started his analyst career at BMI-TechKnowledge in 2001. Before joining the Africa Analysis team, he was a senior analyst for enterprise at Ovum. Prior to that, he worked as programme manager for Communications and Networking Africa at IDC South Africa, where he handled IDC's telecommunications and networking research, analysis and consulting services for Africa.

Hurst published several studies that looked at areas such as market sizing data, in addition to forecasts on the use of fixed-line and mobile wireless technologies, such as GSM, CDMA, ADSL, WiFi and wireless broadband.

His research included an investigation of the regulatory environment, and how current and future changes might impact market developments and future growth, and he headed up several consulting projects for different financial institutions that centred around testing the validity of the business cases for new network ventures.

Hurst graduated from the University of South Africa where he completed a BA in Economics and Politics, and also completed an MBA at Milpark Business School.