IBM for a Smarter African Continent?

In an intriguing look at how I.B.M. is seeking to make new telecommunications footholds in Africa, a New York Times article yesterday offered another glimpse into how that continent may be edging closer to becoming an emerging market for technological growth.

According to the story, I.B.M. "will supply the computing technology and services for an upgraded cellphone network across 16 nations (Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) in sub-Saharan Africa," and Indian cellphone company, Bharti Airtel, will be the customer and provide "hardware, software and services to run everything from billing and call-traffic management to delivering new services like music and video" in the region.

Basically, I.B.M will manage Bharti Airtel's communications network in Africa. Here is a story from I.B.M. on the project. During the last five years, I.B.M. has already spent about $300 million in the continent setting up country offices, supporting technology training programs and adding information centers.

For I.B.M., the partnership signals further technological inroads into what can only be dubbed the slowest developing continent in the world. I.B.M. spokesman Bruno Di Leo said the project was "a huge step forward for I.B.M. in what we think is the next major emerging growth market — Africa," and The Times article said I.B.M.'s overarching strategy "calls for the growth markets — not only the well-known BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China, but also dozens of others — to increase as a share of I.B.M.’s revenue from 19 percent to 25 percent by 2015. That is the equivalent of $1 billion in new sales a year. In these nations, I.B.M. is targeting the linchpin industries of economies including telecommunications, banking, transportation, health care and energy."

Obviously, I.B.M., which saw its stock rise from 116 in May of this year to 130.60 at the close of the market Sept. 18, has the primary goal of moneymaking, as the above quote shows, but there's an undeniable residual effect here. Although just 40 out of 100 Africans own cellphones, I.B.M. reports that demand is increasing about 25 percent per year, and even within agrarian and fishing industries, cellular communications have proven beneficial in helping businesses succeed by acquiring market values for products in real time, no matter where businessmen happen to be located, either on the farm or at sea.

Article Author: Jeremy Styron

Jeremy Styron is a newspaper editor and blogger in Northeast Georgia who holds a bachelor's degree in English from Clemson University. Writing interests include politics, current events, history, the media, literature and the arts, and philosophy.

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