{"id":437429,"date":"2020-10-01T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=437429"},"modified":"2020-10-01T13:00:24","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T11:00:24","slug":"how-5g-connectivity-can-boost-africas-economic-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/industry-news\/437429\/how-5g-connectivity-can-boost-africas-economic-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"How 5G connectivity can boost Africa\u2019s economic growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The number of mobile Internet users in Africa is growing rapidly, primarily due to the rapid popularisation of smartphones and lack of fixed-line infrastructure.<\/p>\n

This has resulted in an explosion in the use of digital services on the continent – including mobile payments, online streaming, and instant messaging.<\/p>\n

President of International Sales at ZTE, Xiao Ming, who spoke at GSMA Thrive Africa event on 29 September 2020, believes 5G therefore presents a valuable economic opportunity for African countries to unlock the potential of these digital services.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Ming said the continent as a whole is well positioned to take advantage of this new technology to advance digital transformation and the development of its digital economy.<\/p>\n

ZTE\u2019s vision for Africa<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ming noted that ZTE is confident Africa can take advantage of new technologies like 5G.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working hard with strategic partners to ensure Africa is not left behind in the 5G era,\u201d Ming said.<\/p>\n

\u201cZTE’s vision in Africa is to bridge the digital divide and build a sustainable digital Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the next few years, digital technologies are expected to be essential in driving economic development and improving African people\u2019s quality of life.<\/p>\n

How 5G can help<\/strong><\/h3>\n

High-speed communications technology like 5G can enable and enhance several industries to create new jobs and grow local economies.<\/p>\n

The potential technologies enabled through 5G include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Smart agriculture<\/strong> for better farming and increased food security.<\/li>\n
  • Manufacturing automation<\/strong> for higher production and export potential.<\/li>\n
  • Smart mining<\/strong> for safer and better extraction of resources.<\/li>\n
  • Improved logistics and transportation <\/strong>to improve economic performance.<\/li>\n
  • Real-time access<\/strong> to education and healthcare services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    However, a major challenge to making these types of technologies available remains the lack of infrastructure to facilitate connectivity throughout different African countries.<\/p>\n

    Ming said that ZTE continues to work with its operator customers to make sure that their short-term investments in 3G and 4G are in-line with the evolution path of 5G.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe are excited to help realise the African digital transformation with partners like MTN,\u201d said Ming.<\/p>\n

    ZTE\u2019s initiatives <\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Ming highlighted two key strategic areas that ZTE is focusing on in Africa.<\/p>\n

    Firstly, it wants to ensure that communication services and access to the digital economy is affordable.<\/p>\n

    This is why it offers consumers a wide range of smart devices \u2013 like wireless routers \u2013 at several price-points, and provides network deals to operators to help keep the cost of services in African markets at a reasonable level.<\/p>\n

    Secondly, ZTE is dedicated to investing in Africa\u2019s local talent, to ensure sustainable digital transformation.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThat is why we invest into training and education, support innovation, and foster a local ecosystem of developers,\u201d Ming said.<\/p>\n

    As testament to this dedication, the company recently opened its fifth innovation and training centre in Africa.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe remain hopeful that a digital Africa will be realised at full speed,\u201d Ming said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    5G presents a valuable opportunity to advance digital transformation and grow the economies of Africa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":437431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[9593,15347,705],"class_list":["post-437429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-5g","tag-african-telecoms","tag-zte"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437429"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":437439,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437429\/revisions\/437439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}