Intelligent Fin.tech Issue 16 | Page 44

AFRICA

African small and medium businesses face roadblocks on their digitalisation journeys and research by Microsoft shows 47 % of SMBs find the cost of new technologies to be a restrictive factor for adoption , while 38 % have difficulty comparing solutions driving the need for cloud marketplaces .

DIGITAL MARKETPLACES C BENEFIT AFRICAN SMBS

Nairobi City , Kenya , East Africa
Digital on Demand encompasses everything an SMB requires to grow , from domain registration and email setup to cybersecurity solutions .

Small-to-medium-sized businesses , ( SMBs ) are the backbone of the South African economy and , in fact , the continent . A report by the International Finance Corporation , IFC estimates that micro , small and medium enterprises constitute more than 90 % of all formal business in South Africa , employ 50 – 60 % of the workforce and contribute 34 % of GDP . Across Africa , SMEs account for approximately 80 % of jobs .

These are staggering figures , and yet even though they are key drivers of economic growth , these companies often lag behind in an increasingly digital world , according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development , OECD .
These businesses often face significant roadblocks on their digitalisation journeys . Research by Microsoft shows that 47 % of SMBs find the cost of new technologies to be the most restrictive factor to adoption , while 38 % have difficulty comparing available solutions and choosing the most appropriate option .
Tarsus On Demand , a recognised services and solutions aggregator in the cloud space across Africa , noted these challenges and developed Digital on Demand , a new marketplace platform with cloud-based solutions designed to solve the unique challenges faced by SMBs . Digital on Demand has been carefully crafted as a response to a critical need in the market .
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