Accenture South Africa CEO comments on the economy's digital potential

The South Africa CEO of global management consultancy Accenture has reiterated the potential that digitalisation has for the South African economy as a whole. The comments come on the back of a report from the firm that called for digital integration across public and private operations. 

In recent years, when the South African economy has contended with sluggish economic growth, Accenture has made two primary recommendations to help drive an economic recovers. The first is to collaborate and cultivate an atmosphere of innovation across the economy.

The second has been a digitalisation of operations and of the workforce across industries to keep pace with global changes and protect employees in a number of sectors from the threat of artificial intelligence. Since the start of this year, the firm has been elucidating the precise potential impact that digitalisation could have in South Africa.

The firm released a report earlier this year, that targeted digital initiatives in South Africa could add as much as R5 trillion in value to the economy over the course of the next decade. Such initiatives would span areas such as public infrastructure, public administration and public healthcare.

The objective of the report was to reiterate the collaborative character of Accenture’s growth vision. In essence, for these targeted initiatives to have their potential impact on the economy, collaboration across various sectors and business processes is absolutely essential.

Within the digital domain, the firm’s predictions are consistent with previous predictions around the South African economy, in that Internet of Things is likely to be the most attractive domain for investment as well the most lucrative opportunity, trumping other areas such as blockchain and AI.

CEO of Accenture South Africa Vukani Mngxati has said, “We hope that these findings will help initiate broader dialogue on the impact of digital technologies in South Africa and, importantly, inspire the collaborative action needed by stakeholders in the country to define effective digital policies and strategies, as well as guide investment in digital transformation to deliver the greatest benefits for all.”