Business AI solutions will transform the growth and innovation efforts of African enterprises in the years ahead. However, says Valencia Karageorgiades, Technology Architect at SAP Africa, organisations must ensure they have a strong foundation of accurate and well-organised data within their business systems to optimise the value from their business AI efforts.
“Organisations are leveraging powerful business AI capabilities to achieve greater efficiency, improve decision-making, support innovation and unlock new market opportunities. By building AI into their core business processes, from finance to supply chain, HR and procurement, African enterprises can increase their performance across a range of activities and unleash a new wave of innovation potential.”
Analysts estimate that GenAI could add between $2.6-trillion and $4.4-trillion in productivity gains annually. A separate study predicts AI will contribute up to $15.7-trillion to the global economy by the end of the decade.
Roberta Gumede, Deputy Group CEO, Gijima, says the time for AI-powered innovation is now as Africa is reshaped by rapid technological advances. “Eleven of the twenty fastest-growing economies in 2024 are in Africa, spurred on by innovation across a range of industries and use cases. The continent also boasts a vibrant startup ecosystem with a growing list of innovative companies addressing issues ranging from clean energy, e-commerce, health and financial services. The entry of business AI solutions will likely accelerate these innovation efforts and speed up time to market for a growing list of new solutions.”
Strong business case for AI in Africa
Karageorgiades believes there is a strong business case for AI within African enterprises, most notably as a tool for accelerated decision-making. “Enterprises that leverage business AI to enhance decision-making gain greater competitiveness, increased operational efficiency, and more powerful innovation capabilities. Provided there is a strong alignment with broader business objectives, organisations can confidently make use of AI as a key business driver.”
Gumede also notes the opportunity for African enterprises to leverage broader digital transformation as a growth driver.
“Improved internet penetration thanks largely to the proliferation of mobile technologies is connecting African companies to more customers than ever before. By developing mobile apps, e-commerce platforms and digital services tailored to the unique needs of local businesses and consumers, enterprises can unlock new market opportunities while enhancing their customer engagement efforts.”
In addition, Gumede believes business AI solutions will enable new productivity gains, empowering employees with capabilities that can make their job functions more efficient and effective.
“Considering our continent’s unique landscape, organisations must localise emerging technologies such as AI to ensure they meet the needs of local companies and customers. Care should also be taken to ensure organisations have the necessary technology infrastructure in place to truly unlock the full value from their AI investments.”
Unleashing business AI potential
Despite interest in AI reaching unprecedented levels over the past two years, some questions still remain over its enterprise readiness. Karageorgiades explains that poorly trained AI solutions could become a liability to the business, instead of an asset.
“The tendency of AI solutions to hallucinate – where the algorithm produces false information in response to user prompts – poses a direct risk to enterprises that business leaders cannot ignore. An AI solution is only a good as the data it is trained on, making a strong case for companies to invest in comprehensive data setup, data strategy, and governance capabilities.”
Gumede adds that organisations that focus on quality data will achieve more effective decision-making capabilities. “The hype around AI is settled; now it’s about the practical implementation. African enterprises are currently exploring the role that AI could play in supporting their sustainability efforts, bringing greater stability to their supply chains, and improving the business’ ability to sense, recognise and respond to disruptions or opportunities in novel ways.”
Enterprise-grade business AI solutions such as SAP’s Joule, which draws on the trusted data of SAP’s S/4HANA enterprise resource planning platform, are more suited to powering the innovation and efficiency gains that African enterprises seek. According to Karageorgiades, businesses also benefit from higher levels of collaboration when users trust the output of their AI-powered applications.
“Business AI solutions that draw on trusted, accurate and real-time information about the business deliver actionable insights that support business users in fulfilling essential work tasks faster and with fewer errors. While we are still in the early days of understanding the true potential of AI in modern enterprises, any business that seeks to benefit from this emerging technology must take care to train their AI solutions only on trusted business data.”