FDI: Africa suffers decline by $45bn in 2022 says UNCTAD - ITREALMS

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The latest from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD's) World Investment Report 2023, has revealed that international project finance deals targeting Africa declined by some 47 per cent in value, reports ITREALMS.

The World Investment Report 2023 published recently, ITREALMS gathered saw foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Africa declined to $45 billion in 2022 from the record $80 billion set in 2021, which also accounted for 3.5% of FDI globally.

Saudi smartphone market continues decline, but IDC believes worst is over - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Saudi Arabia's smartphone market experienced a 15.3 per cent year-on-year decline in shipments in 2018, according to the latest figures announced today by International Data Corporation (IDC), reports ITREALMS.

The global technology research and consulting firm's newly released Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows smartphone shipments to the Kingdom fell to 7.5 million in 2018, down 48% on the market's peak in 2015.

The Saudi market's performance was broadly in line with the overall trend of the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, where smartphone shipments were down 12.2 per cent year on year in 2018. With Saudi Arabia being biggest market in GCC, accounting for 47 per cent of all smartphone shipments to the region last year, any declines felt in this market are bound to affect the region's overall performance.

The Saudi smartphone market has been in a dire situation since 2016, when the first aggressive decline occurred. IDC's data shows there was a 30% year-on-year decline in smartphone shipments in 2016, followed by a further 13% fall in 2017 and now a 15k per cent drop off in 2018.

"These massive double-digit declines have been caused by many different factors, beginning with the Saudization of the mobile phone industry in 2016 that caused more than 40 per cent of independent retailers to shut down," says Nabila Popal, senior research manager for mobile phones at IDC. "Then there was the introduction of VAT in 2017, as well as a reduction in government subsidies and the implementation of dependent taxes – all of which caused a significant reduction in consumer disposable income. These factors and the overall lack of innovation in the smartphone space have led to a lengthening of the refresh cycle. Indeed, consumers are becoming smarter, carefully analyzing the cost versus features of all new devices, and simply do not see the need to upgrade their devices as often as before."

In terms of vendor dynamics, there was considerable movement over the course of the year. The top brands for 2018 as a whole were Samsung, Apple, and Huawei, with unit shares of 34.8 per cent, 28.4 per cent, and 19.6k per cent, respectively. However, by the final quarter of the year Huawei had mirrored its global position by moving into second place and pushing Apple down into third. Honor has also grown drastically to reach fourth position.

"Huawei's growth in the region, at such a time when leading brands are declining, is to be commended," says Popal. "There is a tendency to attribute this growth purely to good features, low prices, and great marketing, but Huawei's success in the GCC has also been influenced by its focus on providing dedicated and customized channel support. By doing this, Huawei is able to respond quickly to local market conditions and directly help its channel partners clear slow-moving stock."

Looking ahead, IDC's outlook for Saudi Arabia's smartphone market in 2019 is not too rosy; however, it appears that the worst is over and that the market is starting to stabilize. While IDC does not expect the Saudi smartphone space to see any major growth in 2019, it is expecting the road to recovery to begin this year, with forecasts showing a flat or very slight decline in the market.

"The arrival of 5G and foldable devices this year may bring some movement to the market as they will finally feed the intense craving from consumers for some genuine innovation," says Popal. "However, given the high price tags likely to come with these devices, they will take time to gain traction. So, while they will undoubtedly generate some long overdue excitement, I wouldn't expect them to bring double-digit growth to the struggling smartphone market."

Nenye Dom/Editor

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Digital IQ for African companies on decline - PwC

ITRealms:

The latest PwC’s Global Digital Intelligent Quotient (IQ) survey has shown that African companies IQ has been on decline as enterprises struggle to return value, overlooking fundamental integration of technology with the human experience, reports ITRealms.

Most organisations around the world, ITRealms gathered, have not done enough to keep up with the digital era and leadership is falling short, with many chief executives yet to fully engage in the initiatives of digital transformation.

This is coming despite 10 years of continued investment and commitment from top executives.

African companies match their global peers in many measures of Digital IQ: just over half (52 per cent) rate their organisation’s Digital IQ as strong – a score of 70 per cent or greater. 

However, South African companies stand at risk, with less than half (47 per cent) rating their organisation’s IQ over 70 per cent.

Tielman Botha, Digital Lead for PwC South Africa said, these are some of the highlights from the 10th edition of PwC’s Global Digital IQ survey, with a focus on Africa.

“Digital IQ has a different meaning today than it had when PwC started this research a decade ago. Today, the scope and scale of digital-driven change has grown significantly, and organisations have invested a lot of time and money to keep up.

“Despite notable advances in technology, company leaders are no better equipped to handle the changes coming their way than they were in 2007, according to the survey results,” he said.

ITRealms gathered that Digital IQ is the measurement of an organisation’s ability to harness and profit from technology has actually declined since we began asking executives to self-assess their own organisations, comments Botha. As this year’s survey shows, many companies are grappling with raising their Digital IQ. There is awareness that digital capabilities are a critical component to success, and that emerging technologies have to be explored. But leaders remain challenged by the need to transform their organisations to truly integrate digital into the company’s culture.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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