The scarcity of finance is one of the things that keep Africans poor and African businesses struggling to grow. With its vast distances and terrain, communications services can be costly and unreliable. But with the help of satellite connectivity provided by Q-KON and powered by iDirect, banks are now able to tap the opportunity to serve a growing population that’s set to double by 2050.
Q-KON, a telecommunications system integrator with almost 30 years’ experience in the financial sector, and a longtime iDirect technology partner is meeting the connectivity challenge posed by African banks.
The financial services market in Africa requires higher reliability and assured Service Level Agreement (SLA) services for branch back-up, ATM, and point-of-sales services. Together with iDirect, Q-KON has developed specific satellite access solutions that integrates the always-on, anywhere, and high reliability advantages of satellite services with network efficiency, cost optimization and committed SLA support. The services are providing cost points below current 3G access and are opening new business models for the financial sector even for shopping malls and metros where the high demand on 3G connectivity leads to mobile network congestion and effectively creates an “off-grid” situation.
With all of its challenges, Africa is a land of opportunity and has become the second-fastest-growing banking market in the world. Without banks, the story of Africa’s growth would never happen and without Q-KON’s expertise and iDirect technology, those banks would never be able to tap the opportunity to serve its ever-growing population.
Take a look at this video for a more in-depth look at how satellite benefits the people of Africa:
