South African industries to explore for business inspiration with visa-free entry
South Africa and Ghana are very different economic powers on the continent of Africa. The GDP per capita generated by South Africa is around $6,400, according to the most recent figures, with Ghana weighing in at approximately $2,200 GDP per capita. The southernmost nation of this continent has long been touted as the powerhouse of economic growth, with the most advanced economy and infrastructure of the Sub-Sahara region.
As such, businesses in Ghana can look to South Africa to explore ways in which industries can develop, drawing from the emerging industries to the south. Now, there’s a prime opportunity for Ghanaian entrepreneurs to venture to the Rainbow Nation, with the country announcing Ghana on a list of countries that can visit without a Visa – joining the likes of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, and Sao Tome and Principe.
Steady growth in tech alongside public adoption
Information Communication and Technology (ICT) has long been cited as a key sector to utilize in industries which want to advance with the modern times, such as in the financial institutions of Ghana. In South Africa, the ICT industry continues to grow and become more integral across the nation. A seemingly never-ending stream of new tech hitting the market continues to increase the demand, with enhanced online infrastructure across South Africa propelling the industry to new heights.
Furthermore, as is increasingly the case in Ghana, mobile phones are also helping the ICT industry to grow at a rapid pace, with many spaces opening up as a result, such as in mobile financial services, smartphone hardware, and mobile app development. The rate of mobile adoption cannot be understated, nor can its impact, with Ghana on track to emulate South Africa in these regards.
Mobiles opening up more entertainment options
One of the primary drivers of mass public adoption of any technology is, increasingly, its potential as an entertainment option. Of course, pricing and accessibility play a huge role, but smartphones have already proven that if people can get them, they will adopt them en masse and explore all of the entertainment options available. Across Sub-Saharan nations, South Africa leads mobile adoption by a wide margin, but Ghana boasts the next-highest unique subscriber penetration, greatly outpacing other West African countries.
South Africans have fully embraced the entertainment options available through mobiles, primarily jumping on major international brands. In the mobile games sector, the likes of Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, and Call of Duty: Mobile have upheld tremendous popularity. There’s more of a split between local and international popularity in online casino gaming, with highly-rated platforms like Genesis Casino and Springbok Casino both offering top-class gaming to internet users.
In fact, online casino gaming has become big enough in South Africa that the SiGMA Group will be hosting its massive iGaming show in Cape Town in 2022. Furthermore, in 2024, the major industry event will be headed to Ghana, presenting a grand opportunity to those in the know. As well as gaming, the watching of movies and shows has exploded, with Netflix being the go-to source for entertainment, but Showmax and Vodacom’s Video Play are also significant players.
Getting ready for the mCommerce revolution
Across the world, especially in regions with an established mobile ecosystem, the allure and convenience of online shopping via these portable devices is tremendous. Now that site developers have been focussed on creating responsive and mobile-optimized websites for a while, shopping via mobiles has been able to see a tremendous amount of growth.
In South Africa, mCommerce is getting ready to explode. Online retail sales sat at around 1 percent, coming into the year. However, that number is all-but certainly going to grow a tremendous amount, with the primary driver of the expected growth to be customers much preferring to use smartphones instead of computers to make purchases online. It’s imperative to note the local preferences in this area, with South Africans primarily buying clothes, books, and beauty products online while gravitating towards local eCommerce platforms, like Bidorbuy or Takealot.
South Africa has opened up to Ghana, and Ghanaian entrepreneurs would be wise to explore the country to see how its development could be applied to the developments to come in Ghana.