FEATURE
THE NEXT PHASE IN AFRICA’S TECHNICAL EVOLUTION BY STEVE BRIGGS
T
he world has its eye on Africa. Called “The Dark Continent” and other not-particularly-flattering names in the past, Africa is now fully in the spotlight as an emerging economic force. With many established markets saturated, organisations, both abroad and originating on the continent, have noted predictions like McKinsey’s that consumer spending in Africa will reach $2.1 trillion by 2025. Combine that observation with another from the same study – that Africa’s young, growing and rapidly urbanising population will make up one-fifth of the world’s inhabitants by the same year – and the continent appears obviously loaded with opportunity. It’s not just consumer businesses that have noticed the potential of Africa’s burgeoning educated and increasingly affluent middle classes. With a greater percentage of
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white-collar professionals bolstering local economies with their skills and ambitions – African tech start-ups raised $195 million in investment during 2017, up 51% from 2016, with ICT companies stepping up to encourage this growth. Microsoft announced the opening of its first ever Azure data centres in Africa in mid-2018, advancing their investment in the continent after earlier setting up Microsoft ExpressRoute connections between Africa and Azure data centres in Europe. Named “South Africa North,” and centred in Johannesburg, as well as “South Africa West,” based in Cape Town, these first Azure global regions in Africa mark a significant milestone. Amazon Web Services has also chosen South Africa as their springboard into African infrastructure investment, announcing plans for the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Re-