“Agent networks are the backbone of African digitization as they offer an effective way of distributing digital services.” — Tidjane Dème, Gene

How offline agent networks are driving Africa's digital development

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2021-09-08 11:00:09

“Agent networks are the backbone of African digitization as they offer an effective way of distributing digital services.” — Tidjane Dème, General Partner Partech & Co-Lead, Partech Africa Fund

Last-mile distribution—delivering products and services to end customers—continues to be one of the biggest challenges that firms offering digital services face in achieving scale across African markets. Among other factors, infrastructure is generally underdeveloped, connectivity isn’t yet widespread, and education and literacy levels can be low.

For example, according to the World Bank’s most recent figures, just 19% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa uses the internet, and there are just 6 ATMs and 5 bank branches for every 100,000 adults in sub-Saharan Africa (compared to 88%, 214, and 25, respectively, for North America).

Necessity is the mother of invention, however, and it’s against this backdrop that agent networks developed to become crucial links between end customers and the various actors trying to reach them, from dense urban areas to remote rural regions.

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