The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has come to remove tariff barriers hindering the growth of African businesses. However, many Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) exist; one of such is data. For years, the narrative around African economic growth has been one of immense potential—a rapidly urbanizing youth population, exploding mobile penetration, and boundless entrepreneurial energy. Yet, the question remains: why isn't this potential translating into the large-scale, sustainable growth we expect?
A major answer lies in a foundational problem often overlooked: the Data Gap.
Most African businesses do not grow because they lack and do not prioritize data; the continent is largely a data-deficient one. The absence of timely, granular, and reliable information is arguably the single largest impediment to modern strategic decision-making and investor confidence across the continent.
The Data Dilemma: Why the Data Is Missing
The challenge is multi-faceted and rooted in the structural dynamics of African economies:
The Informal Economy: Many businesses are Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) operating informally. They lack the basic digital accounting, formal record-keeping, and internal data collection systems necessary to track their performance, manage inventory, or forecast growth. They simply have no internal data.
Outdated Public Data: National Statistical Offices (NSOs) often operate with insufficient capacity and funding. The official macroeconomic and demographic statistics they produce are frequently outdated (sometimes years old) and lack the granularity required for businesses to pinpoint specific market segments or localized consumer trends, the accuracy and relevance of which depends on real-time granular data.
Fragmented Access: Even when data exists (e.g., mobile money transaction data, satellite imagery, utility usage), it is often siloed across government ministries or held exclusively by large private companies, making it inaccessible or unusable to local entrepreneurs and policymakers.
This scarcity creates an environment where businesses are forced to "fly blind," making strategic decisions based on intuition rather than evidence, which drives up risk and costs. Furthermore, the lack of verifiable data limits an enterprise’s ability to build a compelling case for local or international investors, slowing the flow of vital capital.
Afrocentric Tools: Building a Data-Driven Future
The biggest gap is in the informal sector. One solution is not complex Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, but simple, user-friendly tools that deliver instant value. Developing simple, local-language mobile applications that automate bookkeeping, inventory tracking, and sales recording for market traders and kiosk owners. By linking these apps to mobile money wallets, the mere act of selling and getting paid generates clean, verifiable, and valuable business data.
As an afrocentric newsletter designed to help African businesses in manufacturing and promote African products, I present to you 3 ERP platforms built by Africans for Africans:
1. GreenBii (Nigeria)
With Integrated Finance & Multi-Currency Wallet (WaaS) as its unique feature, it seems to integrate core operational modules (invoicing, inventory) with a built-in Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) feature. This directly addresses the high mobile money usage and fragmented payment ecosystem in Africa, allowing MSMEs to manage cash flow and vendor payments seamlessly within the ERP, eliminating reconciliation headaches.
Want to be sure if their platform is the right fit for your business before making the jump? They offer a free trial period specifically for that. Log on to their website to sign up.
2. SysPro (South Africa)
SysPro has as its unique selling proposition a deep integration into manufacturing and distribution. While now a global player, its roots in South Africa give it a long history of understanding the complexities of African supply chains, logistics, and manufacturing environments such as, erratic energy supply and raw material sourcing issues among many. It offers robust inventory, warehouse, and production planning modules tailored for industrial MSMEs.
As usual, be sure to request a demo before you decide whether their product matches your needs.
3. Kedebah (Ghana)
Designed to be a robust, all-in-one cloud-based ERP, it often focuses on compliance with local tax (like Ghana's VAT or Nigeria's FIRS requirements) and statutory reporting standards. Its cloud nature ensures accessibility even with limited local IT infrastructure, a crucial factor for scaling MSMEs. The Kedebah platform is cloud-based, simple and AI driven.
Explore the solutions they offer, then decide what you are going to do.
No More Excuses
With such initiatives as AfCFTA among many initiatives, the African continent is rising; so is it’s industrial growth and potential. To position yourself as a serious indigenous manufacturing business worthy of attention, data is your ally. Your growth as an SME Is inadvertently tied to this. Let us do better!