Nicolas Speciel, who is enthusiastic about the mobile and banking revolution, talks to us about his experience in Africa as a Pre-Sales Engineer at UCOPIA, and his vision of the role of digital technology on the continent.
Africa: between disruption and technological revolution
Yes, Africa rhymes with technological disruption.
In the light of this article by Oliver Labbe, I wanted to offer an operational example from my own experience of Africa’s technological disruption, and more specifically of the mobile and banking revolution that is underway.
As an international consultant for a publisher of Wi-Fi connectivity and proximity marketing solutions, I often receive requests from partners and customers all over the world to integrate new functionalities. Some of them can be quite confusing!
A shocking mobile revolution in Africa
Confusing, yes. But very rewarding: the example of the mobile revolution in Africa.
Hence my surprise when, over a year ago, in the middle of a scoping meeting for one of my first major projects in West Africa, I was told about USSD codes (#123# in France, which you can dial on your mobile phone, for example) for recharging Wi-Fi accounts. These features are rarely used in Europe, and in 5 years of experience in my field, I’ve never heard of any such demand (in Europe, the Middle East or the USA). The lack of opportunities associated with this request and its technological complexity prompted me to reference this feature request, while explaining that it would be difficult for me to support it with my product committee…
Some time later, another major African customer made a similar request. And the customer is also insistent…
So I dug deeper into the subject, exchanged ideas with my local partners, and discovered, to my amazement, African mobile monetisation. I’m a big fan of the credit card, but I’ve noticed that it’s decried by African consumers. My partners talked to me about money dematerialisation, money transfer by SMS, mobile money… many good ideas that had not been exploited in Europe. I realised that for them, the mobile operator had become a bank, and the mobile package had become a bank account. So there you have it: Africa has set up its own innovative, connected, mobile money exchange system, while these uses are still in their infancy in Europe.
Ucopia’s involvement in Africa
Once we had understood the disruption internally, we looked at solutions with our African partners to support them in this mobile and banking revolution. After several meetings, we came up with a simple solution tailored to local Wi-Fi users. Our technology will enable them to credit their Wi-Fi account overtime, directly from their mobile phone, via mobile money (either by USSD exchange or via a dedicated website). Of course, it is still possible to buy top-ups from approved distributors or use a credit card, but the appetite for mobile money is clearly growing.
From the point of view of hotspot operators, I can also see an interest in ownership of user data and complete control of the local infrastructure.
I conclude that the success of these projects, set up with our African partners and customers, has been based on two major points. Firstly, our ability to take account of their technological breakthroughs. We were able to be open to their local uses and technologies, and integrate them into our technology. And also the importance we attached to autonomy in terms of the technical and economic management of the solution, with no possibility of external interference.
At a time when French mobile operators are launching into mobile banking and want to bring about a digital revolution in the traditional model, I can confirm that the digital breakthrough in Africa is already well underway and could be a source of inspiration for many players in our European economy.
