Published 8 hours ago
Forbes Africa
Tamsin Mackay
Eighteen years ago, Mark Walker chose a corporate path that allowed him to center both his family and his professional growth.
At International Data Corporation (IDC), he established the company’s research and consulting business across the Africa region, pulling it through the internet boom into cloud and then into the fourth industrial revolution. When he left the company, he was the Vice President of Data and Analytics for Middle East, Türkiye and Africa, and Managing Director of IDC South Africa, running three offices that included Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria
“When I started at the IDC, there was lots of travel, lots of interesting developments and consulting work with telcos, IT companies, OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and government agencies. Every day, there was something new and you had the backing of the corporate behind you, most of the time,” he says to FORBES AFRICA
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“Corporate life has its benefits with a secure paycheck and a lot of variety. It was fun.”
Then, things changed. ““In 2021 IDC was bought by an American company.”
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The company in question was Blackstone Inc, which acquired International Data Group (IDG), the parent company of IDC for $1.3 billion. The acquisition resulted in significant restructuring and a move from a model based on commercial performance at the regional or country level to experimenting with different models until, as Walker explains, they settled on product lines
Walker decided to go his own. “I set up T4i with a partner with expertise in consulting across global multinational agencies. We are prioritizing Africa because I believe the continent is very much neglected.”
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“You have… All these big OEMs supplying technology into Africa and it’s either part of a corporate social obligation or from an ESG perspective. Not all of them, of course, as there are good investments, like the recent ones by Google and Microsoft, particularly in the AI space. But if you look at the scale of Africa and its ability to adopt technology rapidly, I believe these companies are missing a beat.”
China has already stepped up and been systematically working with governments and organizations to the point where they have displaced Western companies. “If you look at Samsung, they’re performing with strength against HP and IBM. There is a definite trend towards the East.”
American companies have realized this momentum and are trying to correct it, but they have a lot of ground to catch up. “Companies from China have consolidated their position in the African ecosystem,” says Walker
This dynamic is the driving force behind why Walker established T4i.
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There has to be, he says, more research, consulting and advisory focused on Africa. “We have years of experience around the sizing, forecasting, regulatory constraints and operational realities of doing business in Africa and we understand the size of the continent–one thing that a lot of other countries don’t get. I remember a presentation at an event where they superimposed Africa on a map with China, America and Europe just to illustrate the size of the continent. And yet, if you look at the GDP of California versus that of the whole of Africa, there are glaring differences.”
Walker wants his work to change the perception of Africa. It is not just a land mass that provides the rest of the world with minerals and agriculture. It is a space where technology and innovation have already proven remarkable
“Think about fintech, particularly M-Pesa. Think about how South Africa’s financial systems were already digitizing while other countries were still writing checks. Africa is where the saying ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ stands true as companies and entrepreneurs navigate multiple cultures and languages, regulatory constraints, and political complexities. All of these challenges have to be overcome before you can land a solution, and this is second nature to the African entrepreneur. They like working hard and they have an energy that sets Africa apart.”
“This is where T4i can make a difference,” Walker says. “We understand these dynamics and have the right relationships so we can contribute to change.”
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Related Topics:#Africa, #Featured, #News Letter, #newsletter, #Nigeria, #South Africa.
