South Africa Market Update

November 2022: Recruitment Activity to increase in Africa in 2023

Frank Khotso from First Point Group’s Johannesburg office attended AfricaCom – an event that puts the spotlight on current & new tech and telecoms in Africa. Exhibitors and industry leaders from Africa came together to discuss the advancements in technology and the evolution of telecoms in Africa and what it means for current and new businesses. 

When meeting business leaders, some familiar and some new, Frank and Jerry were able to ask pressing questions about business projections and market opinions for 2023. The conclusions of many conversations focused on the increased need for Engineers as they venture into the Digital Solutions Market and companies focusing on enrolling 5G coverage across Africa. Jerry Lee commented: “We will see a tremendous demand for IoT Solution Engineers, Cloud Solution Architects and Maintenance Engineer roles in 2023. This means an increase on recruitment activity over the course of the year.” 

With speakers from Huawei, Omida, Ericsson and Deloitte, it was exciting to hear about the different predictions and focus for 2023, and how it will affect the tech and telecoms market in Africa. Frank Khotso commented: “Due to recent floods in South Africa, a lot of telecom infrastructures were damaged. This means that companies have a lot to fix and upgrade.” This current problem could affect the advancements of tech in Africa and could delay the introduction of new technologies into the market.

The outlook of recruitment activity in 2023

From the discussions throughout the event, it was clear that there’s an increasing number of businesses in Africa partnering with companies across the globe. 2023 will definitely be the year of tech advancements for Africa. Jerry Lee is looking forward to seeing how the new partnerships will develop, he said: “I am excited to see a lot of collaboration between local African entities and global companies. These will help drive the technology space forward.” Frank also agreed with Jerry and shared his excitement by saying: “I’m excited to also see the collaborations and partnerships of ISP companies and the government.”

Overall, it’s apparent that 2023 will be a growth year for Africa with recruitment activity looking busy and Africa’s technology starting to advance. We look forward to seeing the development businesses will have when adjusting to all the new changes and how that will impact the telecoms industry in Africa.

November 2022: The future of telecoms recruitment in Africa

Jason Duloquin from First Point Group’s Paris office attended The Mobile World Congress in Rwanda – an event that brings together the digital and connectivity ecosystem. Exhibitors from around the world showcased cutting edge technologies and discussed the new innovations in the industry that that can help visionary startups go from physical to digital.

With meeting familiar faces of the clients we work with and attending panel discussions, Jason held discussions with industry leaders about the importance of finding new talent within mobile financial services and it’s a general feeling that there will be an increase in recruitment activity across the board in 2023. Jason commented: “This year’s MWC event makes me feel excited to see how mobile money and digital finance can transform the continent in many ways and increase the inclusion of the millions of unbanked Africans.”

With speakers from Orange, ZTE, Deloitte, Ericsson amongst many others, it was great to hear the predictions about recruitment activity within mobile and digital finance and the importance of digital growth for many companies. Jason commented: “The future of telecoms in Africa is mobile money and digital finance inclusion. Africa represents 70% of the mobile money market globally, which is an asset when attracting clients in the region.” 

The outlook of recruitment activity in 2023

From the panel discussions it was clear to see that the goal for many companies is to now focus on finding talent in the mobile financial services sector and enforce digital financial inclusion by developing up to date infrastructures in Africa. Jason summarised the outlook for 2023: “There will be a race to attract specific skills that are either scarce or not available yet in Africa for mobile financial services. Investments are on the rise so we should expect to see a boom in recruitment as the year begins.”

The Future of Mobile Money: 30 second Q&A

At the conference, Jason spoke with Jean Claude Gaga, Managing Director of Airtel Rwanda Mobile Money about the comparison between working for a bank and working for a telco company, and how he sees mobile money developing in the future.

What is the main difference between working for a bank and working for a Telco?

 “Working with a bank requires more patience, it is way more process driven. That’s the way it is and should be as everything is a risk before it’s an opportunity. There is no real sense of urgency and no clear focus on customers. In Telcos, you have room to break rules. It's a mass market, so you need to get it right from the start which means you have to be customer centric. Telco companies are more dynamic and take less time to implement changes.“ 

Please define mobile money in 3 words

“Price, convenience and channels”

 Define for yourself the Future of mobile money, mid and long term? 

“Mobile money is to become the continental currency for Africa, we do not need foreign FX. What is necessary is for us to have harmony around Digital identity (seamless way to identify people beyond borders) to achieve this. “

We look forward to seeing how mobile money will develop in Africa throughout 2023 and the focus on educating people that will obtain rare skills that will become necessary in the progression of digital financial inclusion in Africa.

July 2022: In his latest article, Jerry Li from First Point Group’s Johannesburg office discusses the main growth areas within the Johannesburg Telecommunications market and the latest hot jobs in telecommunications. Currently, the skill set most in demand is tech sales and business development . This demand is particularly prominent for South African tech companies and Chinese Tech companies with a base in South Africa.

The 3 most in-demand jobs in telecommunications

Sales Manager

A Sales Manager’s primary role is to search for new customers and projects in their assigned vertical sector. They need to be skilled in business development and identifying new leads and opportunities via winning new accounts from scratch or upselling existing accounts. Being a ‘people person' is paramount as building/maintaining relationships with new and existing customers is core to being a successful Sales Manager in telecommunications. 

Channel Manager Channel managers are usually responsible for improving customer consumption; planning and implementing customer presentations, overseeing account profiles, and monitoring competitor activity. They assist in communicating with resellers to create plans for growing market share and communicating channel activities.Account Manager A successful Account Manager ensures that client needs are understood and satisfied. They build and manage client relationships, collect information, and ensure that company offerings meet the individual needs of clients. 3 predictions for telecommunications recruitment for the next 6 months

As my focus is predominantly on the Chinese Tech Market where Tech is always a continuously non-stop developing sector. New Tech products are always launched into the general market, and to launch such new products or solutions there will consistently be a requirement for Sales employees. As such my predictions for the next 6 months are:

• An increase in the recruitment of Salespeople (at all levels). As we are reaching year-end, most clients tend to want to push sales targets to be met.
• Tech and Telecoms companies may look at potential restructures after evaluating the first half of the year’s performances; and with the need to apply for new budget for the new financial year, a last-minute hiring spree on recruitment may occur
• We can also see that with the year closing into a finish, tech and telecoms companies may also revaluate and review their existing employees to understand performance

Overall, my predictions are that in my sector, a mass hiring will happen and an increase in demand on bilingual employees that can speak both Mandarin and English.