African data centre investment to surge ahead, report says
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African data centre investment to surge ahead, report says

Africa Connection.jpg

An estimated US$5-6 billion will be invested in carrier-neutral data centres in Africa in the next three to five years according to Console Connect’s Africa Interconnection report.

The report considers 2022 to be Africa’s year of the “big change”.

Since 2020, the number of carrier neutral data centres has increased from 20 to 50 and the number of planned carrier-neutral data centres has increased from 15 to 68.

The report adds that AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud and Huawei Cloud are laying the foundations for a robust African hyperscaler market.

For example, AWS has established Kenya as a Local Cloud Zone; Microsoft views Nigeria as a “prime” location for development and Google has announced a US$1 billion investment into Africa over the next five years, including the launch of its first South African Google Cloud region.

Neil Templeton, SVP of marketing, at Console Connect, believes that the current reliance on public internet-facing systems “do not always meet increasingly stringent requirements around security and performance when moving data and workloads between cloud services and the people and applications that require them.”

Templeton added: “The emergence of NaaS platforms, such as Console Connect, can help businesses in Africa overcome this challenge.

“Advancements in Software-defined networking (SDN) have made it easier to access high-performance networks and create a dedicated connection to the cloud that drives efficiency and reduces cost for businesses.”

Although the report maintains that there are still barriers to cloud adoption on the continent.

Many African companies remain hampered by legacy equipment and attitudes, alongside tight infrastructure investment budgets.

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