Globally, Africa is increasingly becoming a hotbed for technology startup activities as far as the world is concerned. Some of the startup hubs in Africa include, iHub and SwahiliBox in Kenya, Hive Colab in Uganda, Bongo Hive in Zambian, RLabs in South Africa, iSpace in Ghana, GODP and CCHub in Nigeria.
Over the past decade, driven by its meteoric economic growth, China has steadily increased its foreign direct investments in Africa. China as one of the top countries of the world is investing highly in Africa and giving their two major criteria for investment which are stability and profitability.
The country has grabbed it’s larger share in countries like Nigeria, Sudan and Congo all of which score low in world democracy ranking.
These and much more were some of the issues raised at the HR Technology Conference held recently at Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.
The conference which was a collaboration of Human resources(HR) experts and tech enthusiasts in Africa was conducted with an aim to establish the most appropriate application of technology required for effective human resource management practices in West Africa through discourse, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.
The event had a line of speakers including Mr. Benjamin Pashkoff, a Principal Technology Consultant at Oracle Corporation, Isreal spoke on human resources management and cloud, while Mrs. Rosy Baker, the ISV Manager at Oracle Corporation, South Africa gave an insight on how Africa is fast becoming the new technology hub.
According to Rosy, “As Africa continues to transition from the margins to the mainstream of the global economy, information technology is playing an increasingly significant role.
She explained that Africa is booming, and a lot of this economic growth stems from investments in technology.”
These great stories in recent years have made Africa a destination for potential investors although the limited access to finance has become an issue.
According to Dr. Kamal Bhattacharya of IBM Research, “the key thing is the great story of Africa. We know that financial inclusion is the big challenge. About 80% of the population has no access to financial services.
There is the lack of access to energy, safe water, sanitation, food security e.t.c. As scientists, we believe that science and technology is an enabler to express your needs. It is an enabler to shape your future.
He said that, this has been a major reason IBM is making this very significant investment in Africa.
“We have hired some of the top talents from all over the world, the African diaspora, people of African origin. Also, people who contribute to the growth of Africa and we bring them all together here”.
