TechPression

Tag: Afica

  • How Blockchain technology will change African business models

    How Blockchain technology will change African business models

    Blockchain technology, though far from reaching its full potential, is set to revolutionize all traditional business models. 

    Its creative products and services can solve many problems that come with using standard business models.

    In recent years, the telecommunications business has been criticized for looking like it’s stuck in the past.

    Fans of blockchain think that the telecom business needs to change as quickly as possible and stop relying on old methods. They think that old methods should be replaced with new, fast, and changing technology.

    So, blockchain is being welcomed with open arms by the telecom business. In 2018, blockchain technology in telecommunications was worth $46 million. In 2023, it is expected to be worth $1 billion. Blockchain SIM cards are one way that blockchain technology can help the telecommunications business.

    Read also: Nigeria approves usage of Blockchain technology

    Sim cards on the blockchain

    Blockchain SIMs employ blockchain technology. Crypto SIM cards are blockchain-based SIM cards. Traditional SIM cards authorize and link mobile devices to cellular networks for voice, text, and data services. However, a blockchain SIM card examines blockchain’s decentralization and transparency. Blockchain SIM cards improve privacy, security, and mobile connection control.

    Traditional SIM cards hold data on centralized systems, which hackers may easily infiltrate. Blockchain SIM cards tackle this problem by using ledger technology to store and track SIM card data. Blockchain SIM card data is scattered over a web of nodes, making it difficult to access.

    Blockchain SIM cards offer identity management services that are both safe and clear. In a strange way, this stops theft and network access. Mobile connections are needed in places that are far away and poor. Blockchain SIM cards are a new way to talk on your phone that makes conversations more secure, easy to use, and decentralized.

    Blockchain-based SIM Cards’ Influence on Africa

    SIM cards that use blockchain technology could change the way the African and Nigerian markets work for good. Taking into account how creative they are, here are some of the ways that Nigeria’s use of SIM cards based on the blockchain can help:

    Increased Financial Participation: A lot of Nigerians and Africans do not have bank accounts. SIM cards based on the blockchain can offer mobile banking and financial services. This means that users can own and move digital assets, get microloans, and take part in the growing digital ecosystem. Access to financial services is improved when people are more involved in their finances.

    Decentralised Identity Management: Blockchain SIM cards give customers more power over their data. This stops people from using other people’s names to get health care, schooling, or government benefits. The use of blockchain SIM cards in Nigeria and Africa improves trust and communication.

    Cross-Border Connectivity: Africa has the most mobile people in the world. People move from country to country for many reasons. The old ways of roaming are expensive and hard to handle. Due to their decentralized and borderless connectivity, SIM cards built on blockchain can offer cheap and flexible communication services anywhere. It motivates people to work together and put money into Africa.

    Blockchain-based SIM cards in Africa and Nigeria might need to be built up and regulated, but they can solve problems and open up new paths.

  • Kenyan company Solutech expands to eight other African countries

    Kenyan company Solutech expands to eight other African countries

    Solutech, a Kenyan tech startup that automates field salesforce and route-to-market has expanded its reach by setting up shops in eight countries on the African continent.

    The startup was founded in 2014 by a group of four individuals, and the company today employs thirty people and has a product that more than 6,000 customers utilize. The company’s platform helps its field sales teams make more sales and be more productive at the same time by using valuable data.

    The struggle to make day-to-day strategic decisions has always remained a huge concern to manufacturers and distributors, according to comments made by CEO Alexander Odhiambo, who was quoted as saying this. “With stiff competition and the need for route-to-market strategies by FMCG companies in Kenya,” Odhiambo was quoted as saying.

    Read also: Capitec Expands into Telecom Services with New Product

    Solutech will solve data distribution and accuracy problems in Africa

    Since operations have always been recorded by hand and the retail industry in Africa is very fragmented, there is often a lack of accurate and timely distribution data, visibility of field sales activities, and inefficiency.

    Solutech solves this problem because it lets you see all retail distribution processes in real time and from start to finish.

    Odhiambo says, “By getting timely, accurate, and relevant customer insights through Solutech, businesses have been able to improve their productivity, lower their operational costs, and make more money.”

    Solutech has been wholly integrated with industry-leading ERP software such as SAP, SAGE, and Oracle, in addition to M-Pesa. In addition, Solutech is totally customizable. Its partnership with Kenyan fintech company Pezesha also integrates merchant finance and lending money to micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs).

    Solutech, which had been entirely self-funded up until relatively recently, was one of sixty African startups backed by Google that received non-dilutive capital this month from the company’s Black Founders Fund. Regardless of whether or not it received money, the company increased its customer base from zero in 2014 to over sixty in 2022. This growth occurred in eight distinct countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia. Customers include Kenafric Industries Limited, Ketepa Limited, Crown Paints PLC, GSM Africa, Flame Tree Group PLC, Car and General PLC, and Senselet Food Processing PLC (Pepsico). Car and General PLC is also a customer.

    With the assistance of the funds provided by Google, we plan to enter the markets in the Eastern and Western regions of Africa. Odhiambo said, “We also plan to expand our product line into the service sector and add a B2B product for retailers to Solutech to round out our product line.”

    Trella Secures Substantial Debt Facility to Expand Operations

    About Solutech

    Solutech Limited has established itself as Africa’s go-to Field Sales Force Automation Partner.

    Some Google Startups named them the most preferred CRM service provider in the beverage industry, Africa’s award-winning field sales force automation partner, and the best sales force automation solutions provider in 2022.

    They are a technology innovation company that helps organizations make the change to digital to give them a competitive edge.