Safaricom unveils new local services in cloud push

BREAKING NEWSSeptember 28, 2023 at 11:38 AM UTC

On Wednesday, Safaricom launched a homegrown cloud computing platform and suite of services aimed at catering to the needs of local businesses. These new cloud services are hosted within data centers located in Nairobi and Kisumu, and they are powered by VMware technologies.

The range of cloud services will provide enterprise customers with the flexibility to expand their operations by utilizing computing resources in a scalable manner, leveraging operational expenditure (OPEX) models. Furthermore, these services ensure that businesses can run their operations from virtually anywhere, with highly available access, thereby ensuring dependable service delivery to their end customers.

Cynthia Karuri-Kropac, Chief Enterprise Business Officer at Safaricom, emphasized the transformative potential of this initiative, stating, "This marks the dawn of a new era for businesses, serving as a catalyst for innovation and growth. We believe that by equipping businesses with world-class cloud computing capabilities, we empower them to unlock fresh opportunities, thrive in the digital age, and achieve their growth objectives with greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness."

Key Takeaways

Local players and foreign investors are showing a strong interest in the burgeoning African cloud computing market, which currently has a penetration rate of around 15% but is poised for significant growth. This expansion is being facilitated by the increasing number of undersea cables connecting the African continent to high-speed internet access points. While African businesses are progressively adopting cloud computing solutions, many of these services are provided by foreign companies whose data centers have historically been located overseas. Factors such as cost-effectiveness, reliability, and data storage capacity have been influential in driving this preference for offshore hosting, often overshadowing concerns related to data security and privacy. But there is now a noticeable shift in this landscape. International cloud service providers are actively competing with local counterparts, and prominent tech giants like IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle are actively expanding their infrastructure to meet the growing demand in the region.