Now and\nagain, a new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution sees a combination\nof factors unite to create a \u2018perfect storm\u2019 of demand – one that is\nexacerbated by the various vendors\u2019 inability to keep pace with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One such\nindustry is the multi-tenant colocation data centre market in Africa, which is\npoised on the brink of hugely accelerated growth, driven by several factors,\nincluding a soaring demand for cloud services, pressure by regulators to bring\nAfrican content back to Africa, a surge in media content markets and improved\nbroadband around the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cData centres\nare at the heart of economic growth in Africa and without them, developing rich\nand self-sufficient ICT ecosystems cannot happen,\u201d said Stephane Duproz, CEO\nof Africa Data Centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese\nfacilities are the lifeblood of every business and the foundation of the Internet\nitself, with thousands of networks and connections meeting there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duproz says\nthe continued and sustained investment in connectivity and broadband in Africa\nare putting foundations in place for true African Digital Transformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor example,\n2018 saw mobile penetration reach 44% in Sub-Saharan Africa, which in turn, saw\nthe demand for data for personal and business use reach all-time highs,\u201d he\nsaid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAdd to this\nthe ready availability of affordable smartphones and more reasonable data plans\nand you\u2019ll see why Africa is hungry for all things digital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building data\ncentres is the one way that Africa can meet the growing requirements for\nstorage and networking that are key to fulfilling Africa\u2019s Digital Transformation\ndreams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKeep in mind\nthat a slew of new technologies including analytics, IoT, Artificial Intelligence\nand cloud are fuelling the demand for rapid, high-availability services and\ninfrastructure that is local, not situated in Europe or the United States,\u201d\nsaid Duproz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the\nclear need for more data centres, Duproz says Africa remains the greatest\nuntapped market for data centre providers and considering the continent is made\nup of more than 50 countries and a population of over a billion, this needs to\nchange. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost of\nAfrica\u2019 citizens are of the age where they want to go online, learn,\ncommunicate and consume digital services,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cData centres\nhave to deliver IT services and provide storage and networking to a\nskyrocketing number of networked devices, users, as well as business processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s no\nsurprise then that demand for data centre colocation services in Africa\nhas been unprecedented, as well as the need for digitisation in Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfrica wants\nto go digital and it wants to do it now. The continent needs servers, power,\nbroadband – and as much of it as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duproz says\nthe demand for colocation data centres in Africa is rising more rapidly than\nsupply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMore modern\ncolocation facilities in Africa will not only help meet the continent\u2019s needs\nbut will help to connect the various regions to the broader global data\neconomy, which in turn will drive economic and social development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the\npast couple of years, Duproz says several cloud infrastructure and data centres\nhave been built in many growing African markets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever,\nthis is just a start,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe desire\nfor more data centres for Africans is skyrocketing, and concurrently, many\nglobal companies are looking to the region for data centre development and\nsupport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is\nimportant, because the data centre market on the continent is crucial to the\nintegration of Africa into worldwide networks. Look at the hyper-scale cloud\nproviders, including Amazon Web Services, Azure, Huawei and Google. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey all\nhave global cloud services built upon a wide network of self-built data\ncentres, but the lack of Africa-based data centres is creating latency issues\nand inhibiting the growth of their hyper-scale offerings on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnother\nreason the continent can benefit from interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral\ndata centre facilities, is because they enable public sector entities in Africa\nto harness the benefits of information and communication technologies, as well\nas the economies of scale that the cloud provides.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately,\nDuproz says, what the continent needs is a vision of a pan-African network of\ncarrier-neutral data centres, and that is precisely what Africa Data\nCentres is doing and is currently the largest operator in this space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe\nthis is the way of the future because we can offer services in all the\ncountries in which we are present to any international customer who wants to\ncome to Africa,\u201d said Duproz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have one\naim, and one aim only and that is it to digitalise Africa and interconnect our\ndata centres all over the continent to drive true Digital Transformation.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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