Information and communication technologies for development

The fight against poverty and exclusion, in the South as in the North, requires the development of businesses and markets capable of meeting the essential needs (nutrition, health, energy, housing, mobility, etc.) of poor populations (“base of the pyramid” – BoP), i.e. most of the world’s population.

In this context, inclusive business aims to stimulate sustainable, job-creating economic growth by ensuring that communities and small businesses on the ground can develop and thus make these markets, which are vital to the lives of the populations concerned, flourish.

These markets represent development opportunities for companies from Northern countries, who often work in partnership with NGOs, national and international public institutions and local players in the commercial or social economy sectors.

These approaches, at the crossroads of “business as usual” and corporate social responsibility, provide an opportunity for technological and usage innovations, and require the co-construction and implementation of new business models that take into account the reality of very low-income customers and local infrastructures.

Information and communication technologies hold a special place here, insofar as their dissemination is a major lever for the transformation and growth of the economies of the South, just as they have been and still are for the economies of developed countries.

SAP, the world’s leading provider of business management software, is active in these markets, developing solutions that not only address the management issues of micro-entrepreneurs, but also their relations with the large corporations in the South and North that are its traditional customers.

Optimizing agricultural value chains: the example of shea in Ghana

In Ghana, SAP, in partnership with PlaNet Finance, provides an innovative solution combining microcredit, training and mobile technologies to help women producers in rural areas optimize their shea nut harvesting and processing, as well as their negotiating skills.

PlaNet Finance provides technical support to partner microfinance institutions to perfect and develop new credit products for their clients. This enables women producers to invest in their business, pay for access to healthcare, and stabilize their income throughout the year.

SAP has developed a tool for managing the supply chain, enabling batches (nuts and butter) to be identified by barcode, from the grower to the end customer. This system guarantees fair remuneration for each picker and provides the perfect traceability essential in the cosmetics sector.

Thanks to cell phones and an integrated software application, women producers have access to market prices in real time. By enabling them to select the best offers, this tool strengthens their negotiating skills and increases their profits by reducing the number of intermediaries.

Today, over 5,000 women are part of the StarShea network and have seen their income increase significantly. According to a study carried out by Stanford University, the increase for some is as much as 80%.

Originally 100% financed by SAP, the network is now supported by the European Union and the Agence Française de Développement. A few months ago, a social enterprise was created to take over and develop the network, as well as sales to international buyers.

With this project, SAP has been able to test the feasibility of mobile solutions for this type of activity and enrich its research and development, which will eventually enable these tools to be marketed to other businesses and micro-enterprises in developing countries. Similar projects for other agricultural products (coffee, coconuts, cotton, peanuts, cashews, dates, etc.) are underway in Africa, the Middle East and India.

Consumer goods distribution: SAP Retail Network in India and Africa

Worldwide, there are some 400 million micro-enterprises producing goods and services, 85% of them in emerging countries. Most of these micro-businesses have just one employee and belong to the informal sector.
A study presented at the 18th European Conference on Information Systems in 2010 shows that in South Africa, more than half of micro-businesses express a need for software solutions, while less than 20% have them.

The main obstacles to disseminating the solutions provided to other market segments are :

– acquisition costs too high,
– functionalities too sophisticated,
– the need for a micro-computer, an Internet connection and computer skills.

An acceptable solution is based on an economic model with no initial acquisition costs, pay-as-you-go (SaaS – Software as a Service), and shared infrastructure (Cloud). The application must also be designed specifically, for and with micro-entrepreneurs, (development in Living Labs) and take advantage of the possibilities offered by mobile devices (telephones and Smartphones). In addition, the solution should require minimal training and no technical maintenance.

SAP is working on these foundations in India and Africa. Full-scale tests are underway with micro-entrepreneurs distributing consumer goods on the basis of a solution called SAP Retail Network, which integrates all players in the chain (manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, banks, micro-retailers) around functionalities linked to procurement, sales, payments, customer and supplier management and inventory management.

Beyond the technological aspects alone, the spread and use of this type of solution depends on the implementation of innovative business models involving micro-entrepreneurs, the large companies whose products they distribute or to whom they supply goods or services, banks, NGOs and foundations dedicated to the fight against poverty, as well as national and international public authorities and donors.