Safaricom Hit or Miss?

Safaricom has today announced the unveiling of a new offering that bundles its products targeted at SMEs.The solution dubbed, ‘Ready Business’ bundles together voice, connectivity, payments and cloud solution under a single contract with the view of giving entrepreneurs ease in setting up or scaling their business. The solution marks a shift in Safaricom’s strategy for SMEs from product vending to solution vending.

Assume an entrepreneur wants to set up a business, they will inform Safaricom of their business needs, for which a tailormade solution will be developed. This will include both fixed and mobile voice solutions, mobile and fixed connectivity as well as integration with its M-Pesa mobile money solution through Lipa na M-Pesa. It will also include Safaricom’s cloud offering. Previously, the business had to seek Safaricom’s solutions independently which was both time consuming and inefficient.

To help SMEs measure their level of readiness and what they need to improve their competitive advantage, Safaricom Business will also be rolling out the Ready Business Index. The Ready Business Index is a simple step by step test that benchmarks a business’ processes against global best practices. At the end of the process businesses will receive their Ready Business ranking, along with what solutions they can apply to achieve best of class connectivity and payment capability. In addition, by taking the Index, businesses will have access to a consultant who can offer further advice on identified gaps and solution.

There is this link I read the other day too

http://disrupt-africa.com/2017/11/safaricom-uses-kenyan-startup-sendy-like-a-guinea-pig/

[SIZE=6]Safaricom uses Kenyan startup Sendy “like a guinea pig”[/SIZE]
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BY TOM JACKSON ON NOVEMBER 22, 2017

Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom is using one of its portfolio companies – e-delivery service Sendy – like a guinea pig, according to the startup’s co-founder and chief operating officer (COO).

Launched in 2014, Sendy offers a marketplace for last-mile package delivery and logistics services, allowing customers to send packages and documents using a mobile application that connects them to motorcycle riders, and drivers of vans and pickup trucks.

In November 2015, it became the first startup to receive funding from the US$1 million Safaricom Spark Fund, which aims to support mobile ICT startups in Kenya, and enable the development of innovative mobile solutions. The startup received an undisclosed amount of funding, and announced a further round last week.

Speaking on a panel at the recent AHUB startup event in Cape Town, Sendy co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) Malaika Judd said the startup had gained plenty from working with Safaricom, but had also faced a number of struggles.

“We have benefited a lot from working with Safaricom. We also have some challenges because they have a lot of muscle and we don’t have a lot of muscle. We are bringing them a lot of value add to solve their logistical challenges, and they bring us a little bit of value by us being able to put their name on pitch decks,” she said.

Judd said startups in Sendy’s position had to be “guinea pigs” as operators are not used to collaborating with startups, which is not an easy position to be in.

“We were Safaricom’s first investment so we had to do a lot of teaching to Safaricom of how to deal with a tech startup,” she said. “We took their money because we really wanted a new API on payments. It was a huge reason why we took the money. Then we realised we were the beta testers for that API. It is really tough being the guinea pig. We don’t have the money or the user base to be failing on payments to our customers.”

Manny Teixeira, group head of digital media and services at MTN, was speaking on the same panel, and said startups needed to persevere with mobile operators.

“We don’t have all the answers. It is critical we get educated through the process. We want to help, but we don’t always know how to help,” he said. “It is going to take a while to get there. Unfortunately we need the guinea pigs. Startups are breaking moulds, we’re not going to do that ourselves. We don’t have the ability.”

Long overdue. They provide all these services so it should all be bundled together at a good price and presented to client. Is airtel or Telkom watching or they will await it to be a success then ask CAK to ban it as a monopoly.

The comments from the MTN official are quite callous. This kind of attitude is what is holding back innovation and commoditisation of new solutions on the African continent.

That’s what they seem to be good at. Actually, after observing a firm like Airtel change hands a number of times and keep on posting loses, one is inclined to conclude that they are here to siphon cash and enjoy the tax incentives. Once that is over, they sell the firm to a new owner at a higher price. The consumer suffers since they’re left at the mercy of the “dominant” player.

What is going to happen to our local business solution innovators and strategists??