African telecoms report reveals opportunities for cloud and SaaS providers

A recent report compiled by TeleGeography highlights the massive opportunities for cloud services and software as a service (SaaS) providers in Africa. Since 2016, the continental connectivity network has expanded year-on-year to create a widespread network of fibre, telecommunications and connectivity infrastructure.

These developments are now benefiting Africa’s cloud, SaaS and content delivery network (CDN) providers through world-class connectivity and improved transit route capacity. This continent-wide growth is spurring more traffic, data and digital content.

Seacom is a leader in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry with a far-reaching network of undersea cables, fibre optic cables and networking infrastructure. We have continuously expanded our network and invested in growth opportunities in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique.

Opportunities as a result of connectivity

According to the report, the expanded capacity of subsea cable and terrestrial fibre has created massive IP bandwidth growth, price declines and growth in localised data centres. Ultimately, this enhanced connectivity leads to a better user experience for everyone; businesses and citizens alike.

It creates a healthy environment for cloud services and SaaS providers to reach new customers within Africa and improve their offerings to existing customers. As a result, sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest-growing bandwidth market in the world, with a projected growth rate of 42% between 2022 and 2029. The global average growth rate is around 32%.

In addition, the introduction of new subsea cables is expected to continue. Recently, Seacom went live on the Equiano cable that links South Africa to Portugal. This boosted connectivity speeds and has a latency of only 110 milliseconds, making it the fastest route between the two continents.

These subsea cable developments will continue to improve capacity for all African countries, increase the number of intra-African routes, decrease transit prices and boost localised growth. The report also found that South Africa is a major hub for internet capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, now servicing more countries than Europe and supporting a compound growth rate of over 50% per year.

The rise of edge computing

As the growth of CDNs, points of presence (PoPs), data centres and internet exchange points (IXPs) continues in Africa, new ecosystems and computing models are starting to emerge, such as edge computing. This is because the internet edge is moving closer to end-users within Africa, creating significant transit hubs on the continent.

Edge computing allows for faster data processing and data-led decision-making for enterprises, such as retailers. It relies on edge devices to capture and process data for business insights and strategies. All of this is made possible by the expansion of Africa’s ICT infrastructure.

Case study of development

In the data centre sector, Teraco – one of Seacom’s colocation partners – is benefiting from these developments and now serves 26 African countries through reliable and scalable digital infrastructure. The company aims to support service providers and enterprises to expand their presence in Africa.

“With these substantial bandwidth investments, CDNs, cloud services and SaaS providers can unlock unprecedented growth opportunities in Africa’s evolving digital landscape by leveraging Teraco’s state-of-the-art facilities, deep ecosystems and our position as the hub of Africa's digital infrastructure,” says Teraco’s head of platforms Michele McCann.

“With increased transit route capacity, forecasted bandwidth growth, improving pricing dynamics, a flourishing content ecosystem and the evolving data centre landscape, service providers need to look no further to extract immense potential and establish a successful presence in the African market,” she adds.

This is one example of an IT services provider that is benefiting from and contributing to the growth of the African ICT sector. Cloud and SaaS providers are also some of the companies that stand to gain the most from these developments. Seacom continues to be at the forefront of investment, innovation and infrastructure expansion in Africa.

We offer a wide range of ICT services in connectivity, cloud, cyber security, networking and communications. For more information about our our services or to get a quote, email us at marketing@seacom.com or leave us a message.

Seacom owns Africa’s most extensive network of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, including subsea cables and secure internet connections. We offer a diverse range of flexible, scalable and high-quality solutions for businesses that meet world-class standards for connectivity.

Seacom is privately owned and operated, making it agile and adaptable to the needs of the customer. This makes us the preferred ICT and internet connectivity partner for African businesses and peripheral service providers. We can guarantee high-speed, low-latency and secure internet connections to corporates and small enterprises.

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