In the last few years, South Africa has hosted mega tech companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Acronis, Huawei, and Amazon; Lately, Google has also moved to launch her own cloud region in South Africa.
With a foresight to provide accessible full–scale cloud services to customers and partnering groups in Africa, Google is building structures to maintain interconnecting cloud stations in specific places in Africa – Nigeria (Lagos), Kenya (Nairobi), South Africa (Cape Town and Johannesburg).
South Africa has been listed among countries hosting Google’s global network of 35 cloud regions and 106 zones following the announcement of the previous launch in Asia and Oceania.
The giant tech company seeks to achieve this by using Equiano; Equiano is a cable system owned by Google that primarily serves to extend internet connectivity trans–continentally, branching from Western Europe through the West Coast of Africa down to Southern Africa.
So far, Equiano power has four landings in Africa – in Togo, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Africa.
The cloud regions are at strategic spots to allow users to maximize cloud resources from specific areas throughout Africa and to access digital services like compute engines, cloud storage, and key management systems.
Niral Patel, Google cloud Africa director, emphasized that Google’s first cloud region in Africa would create customized services and applications for quick solutions to typical location-based businesses.
In a quote, he added that “They (Africans) are able to leverage our computer artificial intelligence or machine learning capabilities and data analytics to make smarter business decisions as they go forward.”
The new development brings cloud computing services close to customers, providing varieties to select products that best match their preferences.
According to Niral, the idea was initiated to satisfy the demand for cloud service and the incubating market opportunities since an annual growth of 25% in the cloud region had been estimated, generating up to $1.5 billion by 2024; this would result in over $2.1 billion in the nation’s GDP with concurrent job creation of +40,000 by 2030, as presaged by analysts.
South Africa may be considered the “mother ground” for giant tech companies in Africa since it hosts more than four cloud storage providers in the continent, whereas Nigeria may not have attracted as many tech moguls, probably because of the presumed cost ineffectiveness of the system operation in Nigeria, as highlighted by Mr. Remi Adejumo (Founder and Chief Executive Officer Cloud in Computing Services Limited).
If true, what other reasons might be responsible for Nigeria’s dearth of cloud investors?
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Image Source – Google
