Innovation: Africa is inventing its own model
Navigating intrapreneurship and open innovation paths across the continent”. Propelled forward thanks to intrapreneurship and innovation, Africa is today at a turning point in its transformation. Throughout this study, Mazars set off to meet both entrepreneurs and companies that have developed local, innovative and pragmatic initiatives.
Close to 70% of employees in Africa would be willing to leave their company if it lacked openness to innovation or entrepreneurship.
Innovation has become a strategic priority for an increasing number of companies in Africa, which rarely enjoy the necessary resources and agility to transform themselves rapidly.
Innovative African entrepreneurs are contributing to creating a new model, inspired by external success stories without necessarily copying them but rather adapting them to local realities. Certain companies bank on the innovative potential of their employees. Others open up to external actors, such as start-ups. From Dakar to Nairobi, from Cape Town to Casablanca, intrapreneurship and open innovation experiments are multiplying, creating pan-African momentum.
“As the continent of technological disruption, Africa is currently entering a new stage in terms of innovation. Following the success stories of fintechs, the continent is experiencing a new impetus with the practices of intrapreneurship and open innovation that bring pragmatic local solutions in environments that do not always benefit from internal resources and a regulatory framework conducive to the creation of innovative offers. It is now up to companies to embrace these new initiatives in order to meet the continuously evolving in situ needs of the market and to create a culture of agility that will help them reinvent their business model.” explains Abdou Diop, Managing Partner of Mazars in Morocco.
Intrapreneurial and open innovation initiatives are important aspects when it comes to talent appeal and retention. Mazars’ study reveals that nearly 90% of respondents indicate that a company's openness to innovation and intrapreneurship would encourage them to join it.
Africa: multifaceted entrepreneurial ecosystems
The African continent is in digital uproar: budding in Central or French-speaking Western Africa, undergoing speedy development in Rwanda, structured as highlighted by South Africa – the exception on the continent. Still others enjoy privileged positions as in Morocco, historically close to the United States and geographically of Europe, or in Egypt, which benefits from its proximity with the Middle East. Mazars’ study demonstrates that nowadays everywhere forerunners show the way by bringing together the worlds of established companies and entrepreneurs / innovators, or by releasing the "intrapreneurial" potential of employees. It also tells us that there exist varying degrees of maturity between Anglophone and Francophone ecosystems. Thus, only 16% of Anglophone respondents think that their company did not make
innovation a priority against 25% on the French side. Anglophone Africa enjoys an important innovative breeding ground in Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg and Cape Town, Accra and Kigali.
Globalisation and instant communication technologies reinforce interconnections between African ecosystems but also across borders. Mazars’ study therefore highlights how start-ups from the African diaspora are joining major groups to extend the adventure to their African subsidiaries, as well as the growing interest of international start-ups in Africa, particularly Fintechs. While the flow of intrapreneurship and open innovation is gradually gaining ground and visibility in Africa, much remains to be done in most ecosystems for durable entrepreneurs to emerge; for
instance, the easing of regulatory frameworks or facilitating access to the market by established
companies could be a start.
To download the full study: www.mazars.com/innovation-Africa
To follow the Africa CEO Forum on Twitter: #ACF2017 and the unveiling of Mazars’ study:
http://www.theafricaceoforum.com/fr/programme2017-03-20/2017-03-21
Methodology
The study was carried out between November 2016 and February 2017.
It is based on qualitative interviews conducted face-to-face or by phone with intrapreneurs, innovation managers and CEOs working in large organisations, start-ups and innovation platforms. The interviewees are mentioned at the end of this study in the "Acknowledgements" section. They are based in the following countries: Egypt, France, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore and South Africa.
We also conducted a quantitative survey via social networks (Facebook and LinkedIn) between February 5th and February 19th, 2017, among a sample of employees from large companies (at least 1,000 employees) in English-speaking (Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania) and French-speaking Africa (Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal and
Tunisia). A total of 643 people responded to the survey.
About Mazars
Mazars is an international, integrated and independent organisation, specialising in audit, advisory, accounting, tax, and legal services. As of 1st January 2017, the group operates in 79 countries and draws on the expertise of 18,000 women and men to assist major international
groups, SMEs, private investors and public bodies at every stage of their development. In Africa, Mazars is present in 25 countries with 2,500 professionals operating out of 45 offices.
www.mazars.com - www.linkedin.com/company/mazars - www.twitter.com/mazarsgroup
About the Africa CEO Forum
The Africa CEO forum is the foremost meeting for CEOs of African and international companies, bankers and investors as well as high-level decision-makers. The Forum accompanies African companies as they develop and provides them with a platform to promote their activities in
Africa and internationally.
Each year, the Africa CEO Forum is attended by banking, private equity and financial market specialists, together with representatives of global financial institutions: more than 1,000 attendees in total, including over 600 CEOs from all four corners of the continent, over 100
prominent speakers, representing 63 counties (including 43 African countries).
www.theafricaceoforum.com
PRESS CONTACTS
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