Zimbabwean business tycoon Mutumwa Mawere is in an ambitious drive to create what he calls a "digitally borderless Africa".
Last month, Mawere, who is now based in SA, started a non-profit initiative called Digital Africa Initiative together with Tapiwa Mutisi.
According to Mawere, the Digital Africa Initiative is about building a platform to connect, equip and inspire digital transformation in Africa.
"This platform will convert connections into a community in which knowledge, insights, experiences and ideas can be shared about how best to create an inclusive digital ecosystem," says Mawere.
"The target is the community of digital citizens in Africa who are predominantly fragmented although living in the same geographical space. We want to build a digitally borderless Africa."
He adds that this involves building an inventory of actors in the supply value chain focusing not only on the supply side but also the demand side, including security issues and regulatory matters.
So far, Mawere has invested R3 million in the Digital Africa Initiative "to build a media platform including an Internet radio station to accelerate the awareness and raise the flag of the digital profession on the continent. The platform is already in use promoting digital literacy."
He says the non-profit initiative is aimed at raising awareness about anything digital. "It seeks to connect, equip and inspire participants. The aggregation of actors on one platform will enable service providers to have easy access to the pool of people who play their part on the demand and supply side of the digital space.
"The initiative so far has 4 000 followers on social media platforms. It is not a business but a community of shared interests."
The Digital Africa Initiative is targeting about 20 000 active followers and members.
Mawere has interests in several businesses, including mining, manufacturing and agro industries, financial services and telecommunications.
In 2004, Mawere's business empire came under Zimbabwean government scrutiny, and allegations of prejudicing the state of more than Z$300 billion were raised by the authorities. In May, Zimbabwean authorities asked for Mawere's extradition from SA, but failed. Since then, by presidential decree, major parts of his businesses have come under government control.
Speaking of digital transformation in Africa, Mawere says the continent is already digitally included in the global system.
He explains the digital footprint is already self-evident and the density of mobile phone solutions is now well-known, as is the penetration.
"The digital solutions are now part of commerce and general way of life. However, the continent is not homogenous, as there are countries that are fairly advanced on the value stream and others that are crawling.
"The first agenda item is to identify all the human actors in the chain. The second item is to build a network or galaxy of these actors. Then we will be able to invest in what kind of laws are required at the national and supranational levels. The threats of digital transformation and the need to create safety solutions cannot be overstated," he notes.
He believes the key challenges in Africa are the human capital and the physical capital required to build a dynamic and user-friendly digital ecosystem.
"In a narrow business and commercial context, digital transformation can be thought of as 'going paperless' in both the state and non-state environments. More broadly, digital transformation in Africa has the power to enable organisational activities, processes, competencies and models to be transformed."
Despite this, he notes, there are numerous challenges for digital transformation in Africa. In particular, business culture, practices, legacy-centric mindsets and technology have the potential to stand in the way.
"We believe we need to ignite and inspire people to think and act ICT," he concludes.
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