One of the keys to business success in Africa – or anywhere else in the world – is the ability to form strong partnerships that allow businesses to transact either within their own industries, across industries, or across borders. A telecommunications operator, for example, is no longer just a communications service provider. It might also offer mobile banking and other value-added services; such as discounts at a hotel chain. By virtue of this business model, the three parties – namely, the telco, bank and hotel – would have to exchange data at some point.

This means the telco needs to be able to trust that the data provided by the bank and the hotel chain complies with all regulatory standards that it is accountable to and that, when it shares its own data, it will be treated confidentially and securely. If the partners are not on the same level in terms of the data governance processes and protection procedures they use, the transaction of data could be exposed to risk, including fraud and money laundering, which could result in massive fines from the regulator, as well as financial and reputational damage.

Furthermore, when transacting across international borders, organisations, which may not be as mature as their global counterparts when it comes to data protection and analysis technology, are coming under increasing pressure to keep up with advanced developments to better serve customers while also striving to be profitable. This is not to say that African organisations lag behind the rest of the world in terms of technology. We are seeing growing interest from African businesses in solutions that will help them manage risk and compliance while also driving business growth. Using different systems to manage each of these areas becomes a logistical nightmare. There's a lot to think about: skills, training, software updates, compliance, reporting and – most importantly – whether the data can be used seamlessly across systems. Businesses need tools that allow them to guard against risk and comply with reporting standards and other regulations while providing the best experience to their customers by intelligently analysing customer data. And they want to be able to do this from a single, fully compliant platform.

If we refer back to the example above, the telecommunications operator will be able to confidently and securely transact with the hotel chain even if an advanced business analytics solution is only set up in one environment – that of the telco. That's because today's solutions come with built-in credibility and are automatically updated to comply with the latest regulations without any action required from the user.
Powered by a new SAS analytics platform, the telecommunications provider, bank and hotel chain will be able to better understand its customers and more effectively cross-sell and upsell new products. Customers that use SAS enable and empower employees on the front lines, who interact with customers every day. This allows for employees to determine the root cause of customer issues and address them quickly in ways that enhance the customer's experience.

From 23 August to 27 September 2016, SAS will be hosting an Africa Analytics Roadshow to show businesses how they can use analytics to manage challenges in the market. We'll discuss how analytics enables smart business decisions through preventative and predictive analysis, and how businesses can manage risk and compliance from a single platform.

Taking place in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania, we'll be joined by experts from the banking, insurance and educational sectors who will discuss how they've achieved business success using advanced analytics. To find out more and to book your place, click here.