SAP's Investment of $500 Mio in its Africa Business is praiseworthy, but how much of the money is going to fuel the local markets? Many African countries face the challenge that small and midsize Enterprises find it hard to start, maintain and grow their business. A culture of start-ups and entrepreneurship does often not exist and if so, these little organizations don't get much of support by local government and private investors. On the other hand African governments and larger Enterprises such as SAP would greatly benefit from a wealthy middle class of Enterprises. High un-employment rate with potential raise of crime is one of the biggest challenges young democratic nations such as South Africa are facing today. However, Africa’s population is very young and many individuals are willing to drive change - they come with wonderful ideas and innovations every day. Helping such people with a structured approach, education, business network and even with some funds can fuel this change. SAP is a global technology leader, working with hundred thousands of small, midsize and large Enterprises. Why not sponsoring young companies and Entrepreneurs with a SAP Business One solution for their first months in business? Start-ups below a certain size of employees or business transactions may consume SAP Business One software out of the Cloud for ~12 months for very little money. If they develop fast within that period and reach more transactions or have employed many more employees, they would turn to a full SAP Business One customer earlier. Within the SAP Social Sabbatical in Cape Town we are going to test such an approach. | |