Africa is the epicentre of opportunity
SANDTON – The 2017 Findaba has seen a record number of people attending the two-day conference.
TransUnion Africa CEO Lee Naik opened the second day of Finance Indaba Africa 2017 at the Sandton Convention Centre with a promise that resonated with the eager crowd: The future is brighter than you think and we Africans are poised to make the most of it.
The second annual finance indaba attracted record crowds of finance professionals and Naik was the first keynote speaker of the day. He presented a positive and upbeat take on the risk-opportunity spectrum inherent in the rise of automation and artificial intelligence.
He pointed to examples like the Zipline drone currently being deployed in Rwanda to deliver blood supplies to the scenes of accidents and the Velocopter (pilotless helicopter), already ferrying passengers above traffic-choked streets in the UAE. For Lee, these are examples of how technology and automation can free people from process-heavy, drudge work, to focus on what we do best: be creative and nurture relationships.
With that vision shining brightly in the audience’s minds, Lee then focused his argument on the shift of power that is happening globally – North to South, West to East – and how Africa is best placed to take advantage of these types of tech-enabled solutions. With Africa’s young and growing population, Naik said, will come problems, but these are problems we are best placed to solve and that is the source of potential innovation.
“All indicators suggest that the highest economic growth will be seen on the continent in the next few years. Collectively, the continent is forecasted to grow at between four and six per cent. By comparison, super-power-in-decline USA has growth forecasts of just 2.2 per cent in same time period,” said Naik
How do we take advantage of this opportunity? Naik believes culture will make all the difference, saying that ‘beats strategy’, and imploring the audience to consider their workplace culture. “Are you putting up walls to collaboration?” he asked. “What culture will you bring to work? What will you do differently to solve the problem?”
“Strategy is only as good as the people who live it,” he concluded.
Talk to us by posting on our timeline, Sandton Chronicle or tweeting @Sandton_News
