Telecom
Cloud Services Take Nigeria and Africa by Storm
By Stephen Okoye
I recently sat on a panel to discuss the adoption of cloud computing in Nigeria and Africa and seeing the overwhelming optimism about cloud services among the panel and audience, I could not help but take a trip down memory lane to a time when cloud computing was considered a matter for banter in Nigerian and African business circles.
I remember working all night to prepare a detailed cloud service pitch to a Nigerian company many years ago and delivering what I thought, at the time, to be a persuasive pitch to the management of the company the next day, only for the CEO to ask me, with a serious face, “…data in the cloud, what happens when it rains?”. While this was probably light-hearted, I knew at that point that the deal would not be closed.
It is, therefore, gratifying to observe the accelerated adoption of cloud services in Nigeria and Africa, driven by Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) looking for more efficient ways to transform their businesses and increase operational efficiencies and processes.
An EY study released in 2021, showed that of 89 companies surveyed in Africa, 75% confirmed that they use cloud services.
What are the drivers of the accelerated adoption of cloud services in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)? While COVID-19 ultimately catalysed the rapid growth currently being experienced in the SSA cloud services space, other important factors are highlighted below:
An important contributor to the growth of cloud computing in Africa is the rapid improvement in broadband availability, speed and resilience across Africa. Data provided by Xalam Analytics to the African Data Centres Association (ADCA), shows that bandwidth capacity more than doubled between 2017 and 2020.
In Nigeria, broadband penetration grew by an unprecedented 92% between 2017 and 2021 alone. As broadband infrastructure has improved across Africa, cloud services have become more accessible and reliable, leading to increased adoption by individuals and businesses.
Another key driver of cloud services growth is the cost management imperative for most businesses on the continent. Many African economies struggled prior to and post-COVID, meaning that SMBs are being forced to reduce/eliminate avoidable costs, including expensive software, hardware and manpower expenditure.
Strategic shifts in business operations from on-premises to colocation and managed services and the adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS) have positioned businesses on the continent for growth and profitability by helping to reduce cost and increase efficiency.
With cloud services, savings from the avoided cost of purchasing software and hardware can be channelled by African SMBs to funding growth initiatives.
Time to market is a critical competitive differentiator for SMBs as the ability to reduce turnaround time from idea to product/service can be the difference between success and failure for an SMB.
The inherent advantages conferred by cloud services, such as the ability to work collaboratively anywhere and anytime, dynamic scalability and access to the latest and most efficient software have substantially shortened SMBs’ time to market. With cloud services, processes that would, for example, previously be completed over 3-6 months are now being achieved in 3-14 days.
Notwithstanding the success of cloud services in SSA, considerable challenges continue to threaten the growth of cloud computing on the continent.
A major deficit in supporting infrastructure across the continent has resulted in over 80% of the continent’s data being stored outside of Africa, despite the increasing number of data centres being built on the continent.
Broadband availability, cost and quality remain suboptimal thus limiting the ability of SMBs across the continent to use cloud services.
Unclear regulations and laws around data management also pose a risk to cloud services as many governments on the continent are insisting that their citizens’ data be stored locally and, in some cases, insisting on the use of physical servers for data storage.
Nevertheless, the prospects for cloud services in Nigeria and on the African continent are, indeed, pleasing. The substantial investments in cloud services within the region, are a pointer to the growth expected within the cloud computing space over the next few years. In Nigeria alone, there were over $1billion in cloud services investments between 2019 and 2022.
These include direct investments in building datacentres and cloud services. inq. continues to invest massively in its cloud-based service offerings including its Edge AI and IoT, Fabric, SDN/NFV for Edge Cloud and Edge Baremetal solutions. British fund, Actis, recently acquired a controlling stake in Nigerian data center provider, Rack Centre, in a $250million deal with Rack Center subsequently announcing a $100m expansion plan by 2022.
Zimbabwean-owned Africa Data Centres recently raised more than $300m from institutional investors such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the United Kingdom’s CDC.
In addition to these acquisitions, the entry of the hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, Huawei Cloud) into the SSA market indicate the faith of the global ICT community in the future growth of the cloud services space in Africa.
At inq, we believe that despite the challenges highlighted above, the African cloud services market is an exciting place at the moment. As the continent’s leading-Edge solutions provider, we will continue to power the exponential growth of cloud services across Africa well into the future.
Stephen Okoye is CTO, inq. Digital Nigeria
Telecom
NCC Advises Subscribers to Opt for Strong Passwords to Beat Hackers
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has advised telecommunications subscribers to opt for strong passwords to prevent unauthorized access to their mobile devices.
In a recent update on its official Facebook page, the NCC focused on how cyber-attacks could be prevented, emphasizing the importance of creating strong passwords to safeguard online accounts
The Commission urged subscribers to ensure that they have a password to log in securely.
The NCC wrote on its official Facebook page, “Protect your online accounts (such as banks and digital media) by using strong and complex passwords.”
It believes that by opting for strong passwords, individuals could defend themselves against cyber attacks.
Telecom
Starlink Users in SA to be Cut Off April 30
Starlink users in South Africa are facing a major setback as the satellite internet service provider has issued a warning that their services will be terminated by the end of the month.
In an email sent to many South African users, Starlink stated that their internet access will cease on April 30 due to violation of its terms and conditions.
The email emphasized that using Starlink kits outside of designated areas, as indicated on the Starlink Availability Map, is against their terms. Consequently, users will only be able to access their Starlink account for updates after the termination.
Starlink, a company owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, operates a fleet of low earth orbit satellites that offer high-speed internet globally. Despite its potential to revolutionize connectivity, Starlink has been unable to obtain a license to operate in South Africa from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) requirements mandate that any applicant must have 30% ownership from historically disadvantaged groups to be considered for a license.
However, many in South Africa resorted to creative methods to access Starlink services, including purchasing roaming packages from countries where Starlink is licensed.
However, ICASA. clarified in a government gazette last November that using Starlink in this manner is illegal.
Additionally, Starlink itself stated in the recent email to users that the ‘Mobile – Regional’ plans are meant for temporary travel and transit, not permanent use in a location. Continuous use of these plans outside the country where service was ordered will result in service restriction.
Starlink advised those interested in making its services available in their region to contact local authorities.
Telecom
9mobile Clinches 2 Trophies at the Prestigious SABRE Awards 2024
Organizers of the SABRE awards have adjudged 9mobile winner in two distinct categories – The SABRE Award for Superior Achievement in Reputation Management and Special Event/Sponsorship based on the telco’s innovative and transformative campaign titled The Hack, Expand Your Hustle.
The SABRE Awards, organized by PRovoke Media, is the world’s most prestigious Public Relations awards programme dedicated to benchmarking the best PR works across the globe.
It recognizes exceptional campaigns, by brands, and agencies that exhibit the highest levels of strategic planning, creativity, integrity, effectiveness, and business results across Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.
9mobile carted home these awards based on its recognition of the importance of SMEs in driving the economic growth of Nigeria, thus positioning itself as an SME-friendly company to support their development and success to thrive and scale their businesses.
This drive to see SMEs succeed led the telco to launch a novel entrepreneurship programme – The Hack, an Enterprise Business Growth Series designed to empower entrepreneurs by giving them the knowledge, technology, and access to the market required to help them grow, with imprints in various Nigerian cities and university campuses.
With the Hack, 9mobile showed the endless opportunities in the SME sector while addressing challenges that business owners confront, assisting them in expanding their enterprises and overcoming obstacles, taking them through the hacks the SMEs need for business growth.
Expressing her delight at this global recognition, Saidat Lawal Mohammed, Director, Marketing Communications said: “It gives us great joy to see our work recognized by such a prestigious and globally respected organization such as PRovoke Media, organizers of the SABRE Awards.
“We know that this is a highly sought-after award and based on other projects we beat to clinch these awards, we are super delighted to be recognized on a global stage. What is key for us are the results we achieved and the impact we made which has served as an elevation for this recognition”, she said.
She went on to thank the management of 9mobile for their support of the Hack initiative, and the marketing communications team for the synergy in driving the campaign.
Lawal Mohammed affirmed that through this project, 9mobile burnished its reputation as Nigeria’s SME friendly telecommunications company, adding that “in the end we reached over 23.7 million people online, had over 20,000 knowledge participants, 382 entrepreneurs exhibit and over N10 million in Grants to budding entrepreneurs. The journey of the Hack has been fun and equally impactful”.
The SABRE Awards for Superior Achievement in Reputation Management recognizes public relations work that has played a central role in corporate strategy, positioning and messaging.
In its submissions 9mobile demonstrated that its PR professionals took a lead role in creating and developing a corporate reputation platform and explain how that platform shifted perceptions, built stronger stakeholders’ relationships, and ultimately contributed to corporate performance.
The Special Event/Sponsorship category recognizes the creative spark and execution by brands and agencies in how to bring to life their ideas and strategy and propel their campaigns into the target audience consciousness, raising brand exposure and providing a competitive advantage.
9mobile had previously won Certificates of Excellence under the Corporate Social Responsibility category for its Health Talk Series and Health Workers Appreciation as well as Future CEO Initiative under the Technology category.
The 2024 Awards for Superior Achievement in Branding Reputation and Engagement (SABRE) will be held on May 16 in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, on the sidelines of the annual Conference of the African Public Relations Association (APRA).
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