A bite-by-bite approach to connectivity

Olivier Campenon is guest blogging for the Forum. He is President, E*MEA, BT and is attending the World Economic Forum on Africa

If ever anybody doubted the fact that Africa is truly connected to the rest of the world, please come to the event here in Cape Town. Virtually half of the participants are on their smart phones at any point in time; be it during the sessions, dinners, receptions or indeed, during the various meetings. Impressive – if confusing at times!

I know, I know; this is one of Africa’s most affluent cities, located in the continent’s biggest economy and a landing station for subsea cables that connect Africa to the world on top of it all.

A logical question that arises immediately is when and how can we bring the same level of infrastructure development to the rest of the continent? In my opinion, this is one of those “elephant questions”; i.e. how do you eat an elephant? A constructive answer is: “bite by bite”.

And there are plenty of indicators that these bite-by-bite strategies are emerging. For a start, the focus of discussions is much more pragmatic than it used to be, focusing on concrete ideas and steps that can be taken. How do we ensure the infrastructure, which is at the heart of the globalisation and development, is put in place to help bring African economies and open them up? Discussions are centred around initiatives that are either already in place or would be commercially viable.

The second indicator that the approach is starting to work (and adding to bottom lines of companies operating here) is the level of optimism and enthusiasm among the peers I have been speaking to. They do not tend to talk of initiatives and strategies; they refer to concrete projects, timelines, revenue.

And that is truly encouraging. A step in the right direction, I think. Grand visions are good, projects that deliver concrete solutions are the way to get to the visions.

Which brings me back to the smart phones. Maybe the participants here are so busy with the phones because the level of business in Africa is not letting them unplug. Surely, there could be no better sign for the future of the continent than this.