Big Tech Looks At MEA Market For Untapped Cloud Opportunities

One of the most important infrastructural components of a well-functioning digital economy has recently emerged as cloud data centres and the scalable server capacity they provide businesses. Companies like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure now offer essential business services to organizations and companies, from small eCommerce businesses to multinational corporations.

Although emerging economies were not the first countries to catch the eye of global cloud providers, as the industry evolves, the top players are focusing on previously untouched markets.

Although relying on physical infrastructures in far-off countries is inefficient even when information moves at the speed of light, cloud computing's very nature means that service users do not need to be geographically close to the real data centres where cloud servers are kept.

Because of this, businesses in the Middle East and Africa that are currently underserved have had difficulty obtaining the same services as their competitors in more developed markets like Europe or the United States, where a competitive cloud market offers a wide variety of goods and services.

The good news is that cloud service providers are working harder than ever to broaden their global reach.

Microsoft has increased its service offerings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and launched a new Azure region there in the last year alone, while Amazon Web Services has added a new area there. Google also recently revealed plans to open its first African cloud region in South Africa.

However, the recent flurry of activity has not been distributed evenly.

The few major data centres needed to provide the full potential of cloud capabilities to the continent's digital firms are only found in Africa, and they are all located in South Africa.