Cynthia Gordon wants to have the best vantage point when witnessing the transformation towards a digital Africa, and she believes she has found precisely that after being appointed as the new CEO of Millicom's Africa Division in August 2015.

The challenge that lies ahead for Gordon is being able to sustain the global telecoms and media company's position within an increasingly competitive market, and, at the same time, help fulfil the business' vision to leverage the role of the internet and digital technology to advance people's lives -financially and socially.

Millicom is of the view that Africa's telecommunications market is innovative and competitive, due to the size and scale of predicted growth.

According to the company the continent's mobile broadband subscriptions are expected to almost triple by 2018, data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to grow by 20 times by 2019 – twice the global average, and data revenues in Africa represents 10% - 20% of total revenues, but this number is expected to reach 30% by 2018.

Moreover, the prices of smartphones is decreasing, with some under US$40, which the company says will help drive up the number of smartphone connections.

Africa remains a critical component of the company's growth strategy and an estimated 15% of overall revenue is generated by African markets, the biggest of which is Tanzania.

While Millicom acknowledges the increase in competition, it is not deterred by this scenario.

Gordon says the focus is rather on growing core voice and SMS business, and on accelerating growth products including B2B and MFS (mobile financial services).

"At present our focus is on growing the volume and value of customers and accelerating growth in data, B2b and MFS within our current markets," says Gordon.

Strategy alignment

The company's strategy is set and implemented via the general manager of each of the six focus regions across the continent, including Rwanda, Tanzania and Zantel in Zanzibar, DRC, Chad, Ghana and Senegal.

Gordon is optimistic the strategy in place will ensure the company is in a position to achieve its objectives for 2016.

"Our objectives are to be the preferred brand of our customers, to attract new customer segments, especially on the B2B side and to give back to our communities, through initiatives like the Tigo Digital Changemakers," she says.

These changes are set against several trends that have captured Millicom's attention including increasing smartphone penetration, demand for mobile financial services and growth of data centres.

"I believe that infrastructure or network sharing will be a significant development in 2016. For Millicom it is one of the most critical levers to widening broadband access. Governments and mobile operators such as Tigo have a duty and responsibility to drive discussions and frameworks that enable sharing. We currently co-locate 72% of our sites regionally and have fibre sharing in Tanzania, DRC and Ghana," Gordon continues.

However, while the opportunities will be clear and available to the expeditious service provider or operator, Millicom's CEO it is really about offering the market something new or adding more value through existing infrastructure and partnerships.

"As an example, mobile financial services was the first big opportunity that has scaled up in Africa. It serves a very specific need which is very relevant in our markets – the widespread availability of financial services to everyone. The mobile operators were the best positioned in terms of distribution reach, customer franchise and technology assets."