International tech players are looking at Kenya for data storage expansion as data center booms in the region.
Direct investments in cloud computing are on-demand, pushing the green light for companies like Huawei, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services to pay attention to the Africa data market. These international companies are enticing small businesses to upgrade network offers to 5G and fibre optic cables.
“There’s a big opportunity there, as more people begin to use cloud services instead of having their own data servers. These are going to become more valuable,” said data analytics company Xalam Analytics.
The localization of the data storage will enhance the Internet speed of users, which is not available for some African regions. Aside from the Internet speed, data security will also be enhanced if the local storage is set to upgrade. Government agencies can store larger data and prevent data breaches.
Moreover, banks in Kenya need an advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to provide excellent customer service. Digital banks in the region need cloud-based storage to speed up the process and store large data.
The transition to the cloud data storage not only improves the capabilities of banks and government agencies but also helps mobile and digital customers to facilitate online activities. These activities include online mobile banking and make transactions like payments and money transfers.
Large tech entities can utilize AWS databases to reach a more mobile customer base and drive demand on digital services. The countries on the other side of the world, particularly in the United States, are already using high-technology cloud storage for mobile and digital services. This is what tech giants like Amazon are doing to transform Kenya’s digital capabilities.
“The fast-rising requirements of cloud-based technology businesses and their customers, as well as the search for the smallest possible delays in transaction times, has seen businesses seek alternative cloud options,” said Telkom Kenya managing director.
Expensive Data Center Development
Part of the reason why most African regions are still not utilizing cloud storage is because of the price of the development. The local data center market is led by Safaricom, Liquid Telecom, and MTN businesses, offering high-priced data solutions to agencies, banks, and other businesses.
Now that more tech giants discovered the lack of development in the region, Kenya is set to become the launchpad for regional businesses. Given access to international tech services, more businesses will move operations to Kenya.
