[Interview] Glenn Davies, Group CEO, Inigmah
Glenn Davies is the current Group CEO for Inigmah - VoD & E-Commerce solutions. Glenn has over 15 years in software experience, and now has focused on the Video on Demand, IPTV and e-commerce space. Though born and raised in Sydney, Australia, he set up and established Inigmah out of Singapore, which now has offices located in the US, London and Australia. Inigmah focuses on emerging markets with its major priority as Africa. In the past year Inigmah has recruited more than 40 Inigmah partners across Africa and is now being represented in almost every major country in the continent.
Would you please introduce your company to us?
Inigmah is a Singapore and United States international co-operation with exclusive partners right across Africa. The business is comprised of a highly skilled team of Web and Mobile technicians, deployment, framework experts, administrators and designers. We´ve got over 20 years’ experience in the development and deployment of enterprise level software, Video on Demand solutions, IPTV middleware and hardware solutions for internet applications.
In which industries does Inigmah operate?
We operate in the fields of Video on Demand solutions, Web and Mobile application development, database development, server administration, internet payment specialist, internet marketing specialists, designers, mobile, tablet app development, IPTV development, Smart TV development, live broadcasting, CDN deployment and high-level enterprise web-based software solutions.
What are the USPs of your business?
We offer numerous e-commerce, VOD, IPTV, social media, payment and social media solutions, many of which have been sold worldwide for years and have now been adapted to emerging internet markets to provide these solutions to a whole new generation of users in these markets. Our solutions are feature rich, extremely stable and highly scalable.
Who are your clients?
We service small to large broadcasting, video distribution, content producers, internet merchant providers, social media, e-commerce, and internet security compliance companies.
How does Inigmah remain competitive in a fast-changing global marketplace?
Our dedicated team of developers is consistently building new modules to the core frameworks of our software solutions. We stay as lean as we can by minimizing unnecessary business expenses.
What can be done by entrepreneurs and government to stimulate the business environment in Africa?
A lot can be achieved here by working collaboratively to enhance the digital migration from Analog services. With improved collaboration around design and development across academia, companies and agencies will boost innovation and significantly improve the industry.
Ares of improvement and focus could be improve health and aged care by digitizing and allowing rural to participate, expand online education, increase teleworking where possible and increase digital engagement in regional areas.
What can you say about the targets, plans and ambitions of Inigmah for 2015?
We aim to provide emerging markets with over 20 years of world-wide Internet design and development knowledge and created architectures focusing in the fields of ERP development, marketing, broadcasting, ecommerce, and social networking. We are also well positioned to support emerging markets transform from Analog to Digital no matter what industry, including Audio and Video.
Do you believe Social Media and the Internet to be a plus to the business environment, as it applies to your industry?
Yes. Social media is a must for any development company. We have to use social media in order to showcase, demonstrate and explain our unique software offerings.
What expectations do you have for the African economy in 2015?
The macro economic outlook for Africa in 2015 is positive with figures just above global outlook. Africa is experiencing a Digital boom right now with almost all countries having unprecedented growth in key areas such as internet, digital migration, social networking, ecommerce, mobile uptake and smart phone penetration. This is positive news for business, Governments and ultimately the consumer.
With Social Networking on the rise, Smartphone penetration at an all-time high and online commerce sales at record levels, Africa is in for an exciting ride in the next 1-5 years. Key to this is all about keeping up, having the infrastructure to support such growth, and as more vendors and suppliers come in to the market remaining competitive is critical.
The African consumer is intelligent, informed and know what they want. Business must meet these modern demands or perish. Either way, it's going to be entertaining to witness such an amazing transformation in the years to come.
Which African economies will perform best in 2015?
One cannot look past what’s happening in Nigeria - Africa’s fastest growing and largest economy. If we start in the e-commerce sector, Africa’s consumer spending forecast is to reach over a trillion dollars by 2020 and Nigeria is already generating half that alone - staggering. Smart phone uptake - Nigeria ranks in the world’s top 25 and rising fast. Furthermore, Nigeria is leading all other countries around internet usage, which combined with the rapid social media consumption, makes this country the place to be.
Second to this I like Kenya right now. It was the only other country in Africa to make it to the top 20 in Bloomberg´s recent fastest world’s economies. A very positive outlook on infrastructure and comms with ambitious investments in 2015 for a significant number of additional sub stations will pave the way for Kenya and the digital world.
And finally it’s a close race watching what countries like Tanzania, Mozambique and Ethiopia are doing, but I will be watching closely Ivory Coast as it continues its exciting transformation. With a stable environment and a vast number of infrastructure projects on the go, Ivory Coast is open for business. And with its rich culturally diverse population and ties to France, I like its prospects in 2015 and beyond. Of course it doesn't hurt to be the world’s largest cocoa and coffee producer either.
sg.linkedin.com/pub/glenn-davies/3/1b1/32
Africa Business Communities is conducting a series of interviews with CEO's in Africa. Are you a CEO in Africa and interested in an interview? Please send an e-mail to Andrea Ayemoba: andrea@africabusinesscommunities.com