| Thoughts from the Conference Chairs |  Our inaugural Management World Africa has just come to a close and it appears to have been a resounding success for those attending. The most pleasing aspect of the event was certainly the lively debate around the panel discussion on the first day and the number of questions generated after each presentation. The attendees came with the purpose of learning and contributing and they were not let down in either department. Our attempt to focus on African issues and introduce our programs was well received but our delegates were also quick to point out shortcomings in some perceptions of this vast and very disparate market. Assuming that the African continent is one big market would be a big mistake and the diversity and maturity levels of the many countries in Africa was clearly evident.
 The majority of delegates were from the Southern African markets, but as many of these operators had investments in a number of markets we still had a representative audience and range of views. It was pointed out on more than one occasion that although Africa could learn much from the other major markets it also had a lot to offer the rest of the world. Perhaps the most interesting statistic to come to light was that 96% of African subscribers had no access to physical banking facilities and that basic services could be offered via mobile service providers. Pankaj Gulati of MoreMagic stated that poorer people would be the major users of mobile technology and that Africa would teach the world how to give this market a whole new ability to handle money as the operators have the distribution networks to offer and manage banking and financial services using pre-paid as the vehicle. Sanjay Kaul from Ericsson pointed out that Africa needed models to rollout infrastructure at a cost that could enable ROI on $3 per month subscriber ARPUs, maybe through network sharing.
One of the other major discussion points was the important role of the regulators in the emerging markets in fostering greater penetration of communications. An interesting observation was that they were often forced by investors like the World Bank to adopt European regulations that were not necessarily suitable. This has, in some countries, resulted in extra cost and complexity rather than promoting competition. Examples of this are insisting on LLU (local loop unbundling) in countries where the fixed access infrastructure is almost non-existent and number portability where penetration is <20%. Backbone development should be a priority augmented by increased penetration of non-urban communities. Dobek Pater of Africa Analysis stated that fibre optic rollouts were mainly happening in metro areas and primarily for business use. Wireless access via GSM and fixed line CDMA were still the major growth area as PTTs were slow to rollout fixed line networks due to lack of investment. Wi-Fi and Wi-Max deployments were being held back by lack of available spectrum.
The second day was dominated by presentations and case studies emphasising the adoption of TM Forum Business Process Framework (eTOM) and was highlighted by a stunning presentation by Saudi Telecom’s Ahmed Almaziad illustrating the almost total restructuring of his organization’s processes using the eTOM.
There is no doubt that this event will grow in years to come if the comments and feedback are anything to go by. All the TMF presentations stressed how important it was for African operators to become more involved with the TMF initiatives and contribute via their own unique experiences. We’ve taken on board a number of important observations and next years event will incorporate a higher degree of local case studies interspersed with international examples. We look forward to a larger and even more vibrant event in 2009.
Colin Orviss
Vice Chairman | Tony Poulos
Head of Revenue
Management
| | | | Testimonials | | “ | Having attended TMW numerous times in the USA and Europe, I am excited to see TMW venturing into Africa.
Richard Askham, Senior Ops Manager – Systems, Internet Solutions | ” | | | “ | A valuable conference, just one presentation made the whole conference worthwhile. And there are many others that are relevant.
Steve Jump, Senior Technology Strategist, Telekom SA | ” | | | “ | What a fantastic conference. Professionally run and extremely valuable presentations.
Adil Nchabeleng, Chairman, Telezero South Africa | ” | | | “ | Attendance and organizations of meetings was excellent.
Elie Chalache, Director, Presales & Product Strategy, Clarity | ” | | | “ | A very worthwhile event that has enabled us to significantly enhance the awareness of our company in the local Telco market place.
Rick Parry, Managing Director, Progress Software South Africa | ” | | | “ | The event was excellent with valuable presentations!
Shirley Moodley, Specialist, Telkom SA | ” | |
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