According to Technology, Media and Telecommunication Predictions report by Deloitte, this was highly driven by continued investment in the market and rise in demand for IT solutions/FILE
According to Technology, Media and Telecommunication Predictions report by Deloitte, this was highly driven by continued investment in the market and rise in demand for IT solutions.
Deloitte East Africa Tax Head Nikhil Hira said the launch of 4G will play a great role in not only increasing demand for data use but improving customer experience.
“The whole IT sector which includes software and hardware, personal computers and servers is taking off in a big way. We have seen major players coming into the market to set up big software labs and it is a good sign,” Hira said.
In November last year, IBM Corporation launched its 12th Research Laboratory globally at the Catholic University in Nairobi.
The laboratory which was the first of its kind in Africa will conduct applied and far-reaching exploratory research into the grand challenges of the African continent by delivering commercially-viable innovations that impact people’s lives.
He says there is also a growing appetite by the young people to come up with new innovations and applications, hence creating a huge demand for the sector.
Despite the expected growth, the report showed that Kenya still lags behind in terms infrastructure compared to other African countries including Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa.
“I believe the government is trying to put some effort on this considering the introduction of projects like laptops in primary schools. Of course if we have to take them across the country, the schools must have power, the required fibre cables for success in the project,” Hira said.
Meanwhile on the use of mobile phones, the report indicated there was an increase in the use of instant messaging services like WhatsApp which is slowly overtaking the main Short Messaging Services (SMS).
However, revenues for SMS remained high; “new services are still SMS-based, to solve the lack of internet connections in non-urban areas. There is a growing trend towards the use of SMS by businesses and government agencies for effective communication,” Hira added.
Globally SMSs are expected to generate more than Sh8.6 trillion in 2014, equivalent to approximately 50 times the total revenues from all Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) services.
