Since 2013, Microsoft has launched the initiative “4Africa”, with the aim of supporting empowering ideas that lead to digital innovations and economic growth in Africa. Microsoft is a supporter of the view that Africa can lead the technological revolution and has committed to supporting both people and business in becoming active in the uprising digital world.
Microsoft is known as one of the best software companies worldwide and for being a trusted provider of cloud services. One of its partners that has successfully used its cloud services is BroadReach, a South-African based, health ISV (Independent Software Vendor) company. Together they have contributed to the treatment of HIV, and with the use of their cloud services, they have fastened the analysis of the input data from multiple sites in almost real-time. Thus, they are able to take actions faster and communicate the results through the use of dashboards in multiple locations. This is just one case from the healthcare sector that digital transformations have helped in saving lives by making processes more efficient.
Another vital component is helping the local population develop skills with the aim of decreasing the unemployment rates and better adapting to the digital transforming environment. This is one of the priorities of the 4Africa project in collaboration with educational institutions and government authorities. So far, Microsoft has provided training sessions to more than 1.5 million people and 1,500 organizations. Interns4Africa is another initiative that is currently one of the main sources of skilled IT professionals in Africa. Microsoft strongly believes that investing in human capital is equally important to any ICT-related investment.
Up to this point, Microsoft has positively affected the lives of more than 8 million people in Africa through technological developments. Besides the initiatives taken by Microsoft, the success of its programs also relies on the local governments. Research by EY and Microsoft in Africa has found that one of the main barriers of implementing Artificial Technologies is the absence of digital policies and regulations. Additionally, the immigration of the educated young population to other places is another obstacle that Africa has to deal with. Given such barriers, can we expect Africa to breach the technological gap that it currently has, compared to other continents? And can Microsoft set the example for more companies to expand their operations in Africa?
References
https://news.microsoft.com/en-xm/2020/09/02/how-investing-in-digital-infrastructure-can-make-the-difference-to-africas-economic-recovery/
https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE3yKjd
https://www.microsoft.com/africa/4afrika/broadreach.aspx
https://www.microsoft.com/africa/4afrika/about-us.aspx
Hi Vasileois,
Thank you for this post! I love hearing about projects that large companies are implementing that are directed towards emerging markets or economies. I had not heard about this before, so I am happy to be informed. I do think, however, that despite the current technological gap, Africa has a great opportunity for growth. Africa has the opportunity to adopt technologies that other current developed countries had to take years to develop. This is an idea called “leap-frogging”. They get to skips many steps that other countries had to go through. This does not mean that it is easy and will happen instantly, it just means there is potential. Therefore, the fact that companies like Microsoft are helping is crucial to this step.
Hello Olivia, thank you for commenting on the post. I am glad you liked it, perhaps I should had elaborated more since it is a very interesting topic. It is still early on in this initiative to have concrete results, but it does show some potential and it could be followed by other companies as well. With regards to “leap-frogging”, I have learnt about the “catch-up growth” in Economics that is a similar term, if not the same. I do agree that Africa can skip multiple phases and try to leverage on its strengths!
Hi Vasileios,
Thank you for the valuable insight about what Microsoft is doing in Africa. I think the potential of the continent is immense and it is great to see that large tech companies such as Microsoft are investing in the region. I truly hope that Microsoft is the first of many to do so. I will definitely read more into this after having read your article!
Hello Nelly, I am glad that you liked the article. Indeed, I think that more companies have followed the example of Microsoft and more will do in the near future. Definitely, a nice topic to further research on.
Hello Vasileious,
I have really enjoy reading your post. I have seen Bill Gates’ documentary on Netflix so I knew he has been working really hard on helping Africa grow in every sense. However, I had only heard of his work through the Foundation, I did not know he was also investing through Microsoft. This is surely a subject to dig into a bit more as it is very interesting. I would love to find some statistics on the evolution of the 4Africa project!