SAP eyes Congo
BY LEON ENGELBRECHT , ITWEB SENIOR WRITER [ Johannesburg, 2 June 2008 ] - SAP Africa has teamed with the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and other organisations to punt the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as an investment destination.
Sixty years of civil conflict and corruption have ruined the country's economy, but recent peace efforts, underwritten by South African peacekeepers, have led to successful elections and a resurgence in mining activities.
SAP SA corporate affairs manager Sunil Geness says the DRC is being rebuilt from the ground up, which is why several large South African mining and construction houses have invested there. Geness adds that Vodacom is also active in the DRC.
"Obviously, we are currently seeing a lot of investment by the telcos," he says. "They are quite aggressive in that market because of the need for basic connectivity. But Internet
He adds that government is still largely paper-based and corruption is endemic. "But they are part of the extractive industry index [that seeks to limit mining-related corruption] so they will need some solid systems in place to manage income and expenditure and present budgets."
Computers, where encountered, often carry antiquated software such as Windows 95. But Geness says ICT can be used to leapfrog the DRC into the 21st Century. "It doesn't have to be leading edge for the DRC to benefit," he says.
"The people there are living in abject poverty and need access to technologies such as telemedicine. There is a lot of best practice for the DRC to follow," he adds.
Geness says SAP chose to become involved in the initiative, alongside the GTZ and the International Business Leaders Forum and Business Action for Africa "because traditionally that is what we do, promote governance and transparency. Our software does exactly that. If you look at this initiative and our corporate values, it fits like a nutshell."
The SAP executive adds that, if the venture meets with success, the company will attempt to replicate it in other "fragile economies elsewhere in Africa, for example Togo, Ivory Coast, Burundi and Rwanda".
"Right now we are looking for a model that works and that people can commit to," Geness says.
GTZ SA head of office Ellen Kallinowsky says IT can play a key enabling role in countries such as the DRC by offering new ways of bringing services to the poor. "Modern technology, IT, can really add value."
She adds that transparency indexes such as those the DRC subscribe to [to combat blood diamonds] "can only work if they have supportive IT solutions that offer the transparency required… and that's the kind of solutions we are looking for."
penetration is still low at zero point zero something a person."
Sixty years of civil conflict and corruption have ruined the country's economy, but recent peace efforts, underwritten by South African peacekeepers, have led to successful elections and a resurgence in mining activities.
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"Obviously, we are currently seeing a lot of investment by the telcos," he says. "They are quite aggressive in that market because of the need for basic connectivity. But Internet
He adds that government is still largely paper-based and corruption is endemic. "But they are part of the extractive industry index [that seeks to limit mining-related corruption] so they will need some solid systems in place to manage income and expenditure and present budgets."
Computers, where encountered, often carry antiquated software such as Windows 95. But Geness says ICT can be used to leapfrog the DRC into the 21st Century. "It doesn't have to be leading edge for the DRC to benefit," he says.
"The people there are living in abject poverty and need access to technologies such as telemedicine. There is a lot of best practice for the DRC to follow," he adds.
Geness says SAP chose to become involved in the initiative, alongside the GTZ and the International Business Leaders Forum and Business Action for Africa "because traditionally that is what we do, promote governance and transparency. Our software does exactly that. If you look at this initiative and our corporate values, it fits like a nutshell."
The SAP executive adds that, if the venture meets with success, the company will attempt to replicate it in other "fragile economies elsewhere in Africa, for example Togo, Ivory Coast, Burundi and Rwanda".
"Right now we are looking for a model that works and that people can commit to," Geness says.
GTZ SA head of office Ellen Kallinowsky says IT can play a key enabling role in countries such as the DRC by offering new ways of bringing services to the poor. "Modern technology, IT, can really add value."
She adds that transparency indexes such as those the DRC subscribe to [to combat blood diamonds] "can only work if they have supportive IT solutions that offer the transparency required… and that's the kind of solutions we are looking for."
penetration is still low at zero point zero something a person."
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Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
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