SPEAKER
Mr. Hisham Hendi – Managing Director – Vodacom Tanzania
FACILITATOR
1. Eng Peter Ulanga, International Consultant on Digital Economy – Digital Economy.
2. CPA Sandra J. Chogo, Trainer of Blockchain, Blockchain Community Tanzania – Future Skills
This session focused on digital evolution, changes brought by it, society adoption, and solutions from digital evolution that make life better during the pandemic.
The digital revolution is transforming industries and changing the nature of work across all world regions. Amidst this ongoing change, there are fears that automation and other digital innovations will lead to large-scale job displacement in manufacturing, retail services, and other industries. In developing countries where a large share of the labor force is in informal employment, there are fears that automation could close the traditional industrial pathway to economic transformation through low-wage factory employment. Across low-, middle-, and high-income countries, digital solutions have allowed fortunate workers in some industries to adapt to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic quickly.
During the session, several important discussions arose on challenges, opportunities, and innovations that are brought about by the existing issue of COVID-19 to businesses, people, and organizations, and these are:
1. When the foundation is wrong, the ecosystem does not work correctly.
2. New technology means Big data, AI, machine technology, and the Internet of things Vodacom has adapted digital care using machines to give customers the best user experience.
3. Adoption of Agile methodologies: we need to have teams from different departments sitting together to produce a product or service.
4. Advocating innovation within and outside the business, to enable capturing data and information.
5. Empowering employees with the right digital capabilities for the future, due to COVID-19, lifestyles have changed, and requirements have changed hence companies are required to change their needs and approach since consumers and businesses are changing their behaviors.
6. Home behaviors have completely changed, and time and space also have changed too.
7. Relationships between ourselves and others have changed while in social distancing, and people have started to put more trust into data services.
8. Personal well-being and online therapy are 100% year-on-year.
9. Work and Leisure: people have changed the way they do things to change the economy (DIY has increased up to 80%).
Mr. Hisham Hendi, Managing director of Vodacom, Shared some of the strategies that Vodacom adopted to improve their products and services and provide a new customer experience to their customers.
To deliver this Mr Hisham answered the following question, How do we improve what we offer to our customers in this digital shift era?
Traffic increase for companies means more investment in capacity building. As a company, we have adapted to New communication modules, Tools adaptation, Support, and security.
– Vodacom has managed to ensure sustainability in these areas:
– Increase of usage on Mobile payment through M-Pesa.
– Social impact through the Foundation “ESchool”
– Agriculture services through “M-Kulima”
Mr. Hisham Hendi
Managing Director
Vodacom Tanzania Plc
Hisham is currently the MD of Vodacom Tanzania Plc and is responsible for running all facets of the business. He has a proven executive management track record and over 15 years of experience in the telecommunication industry, he holds a bachelor degree of Commercial Business from Cairo University in Egypt, a graduate of 2 executive programs from IMD Business School in Switzerland and London Business School in UK.
Prior to becoming the Managing Director, Hisham was focusing in transforming the commercial business, primarily by creating a new project management team that was key in launching differentiated consumer offerings that enabled Vodacom to gain market share over competition in the past 2 years.
Prior moving to Tanzania, he worked as Chief Commercial Officer for Vodacom International Business based in South Africa, where he led the design and implementation of all commercial strategies across all Vodacom African markets, in addition to serving as a board member in Vodacom Tanzania & Mozambique.
Previously, he held several senior roles in Vodafone Egypt, he was responsible for Digital & Content, Postpaid & Prepaid Business, and took over the responsibility of all consumer marketing activities.
Hisham is an expert in the consumer business, at Vodafone Group in London, he focused in growing partner networks consumer revenue across 13 different markets in Latin America, Europe & Middle East.
Hisham is passionate about how the digital economy has and will continue shaping businesses and what organizations need to do to become “future ready” seizing the benefits of the digital economy for business growth. He has spoken on several events, GSMA, PMI and other International conferences on mobile money and digital transformation.
