This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Bala Vasanth Murugan, Associate Directory – Deliver at Prodapt Solutions

The demand for broadband communication services has soared, with an increased focus on fiber internet connectivity. Major countries around the globe are aiming to deliver full-fiber broadband to millions of premises in the next 5-10 years. Also, the global pandemic has changed the way we work and live, and fiber networks have never been so vital in unlocking our digital futures. … [visit site to read more]

Google has announced the launch of a cloud region in South Africa, its first in the African continent. South Africa now joins Google’s network of 35 cloud regions and 106 zones worldwide.

Google is also said to be building what are called ‘Dedicated Cloud Interconnect’ sites on the continent. These sites, in Nairobi, Lagos, Cape Town and Johannesburg, will link users’ on-premises networks with Google’s grid. They will also be supported by links to Google’s Equiano subsea cable.

Google Cloud regions allow users to deploy cloud resources from specific geographic locations and access several services including cloud storage, compute engine and key management systems. 

Obviously the fact that, as Google Cloud Africa Director Niral Patel puts it, “The new region will allow for the localization of applications and services,” and that the new region and interconnect sites will take its cloud computing services closer to its clients are both very important. 

This move should also make it easier for Google to address the growing trend towards privacy and data laws that require companies to store their data within borders and process it through servers hosted locally.

While South Africa is the biggest market for cloud services on the continent, Google is said to be looking to launch in more markets within Africa, although, as more than one local media outlet points out, it’s not obvious why the company waited so long. Giants like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure made inroads into the continent a few years ago. In fact South Africa now houses four major cloud storage providers on the continent.

That said, Google last year announced a five-year, $1 billion plan to boost digital services across Africa and the company has made quite a few investments in local technology infrastructure and initiatives, including its first product development centre in Africa, which is in Nairobi. An AI and research centre opened in Ghana in 2019.

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M Auto, a leading provider of electric mobility solutions in Africa, says it is utilizing secure, intelligent IoT connectivity from Aeris, a global IoT solutions provider, to help enable sustainable transportation across the continent.

M Auto is now the largest electric vehicle start-up in Africa, with 2,000 e-bikes on the ground and 3,000 bikes ready for market. M Auto is also investing in manufacturing and deploying e-bikes across the continent.

Togo and Benin are the first two countries to go live. M Auto is launching two new operations before the end of 2022 and long-term plans include expanding into the rest of Africa. 

M Auto utilizes the Aeris Intelligent IoT Network to deploy its devices faster and Aeris’ support services to scale more quickly into new markets. In addition, Aeris says, the continued expansion of M Auto in Africa is boosted by the Aeris Intelligent IoT Network, which provides a robust platform with reliable connectivity everywhere to help build and scale innovative IoT programmes including sustainable mobility solutions.

Aeris says its global subscriber identity module (SIM), which is deployed at the point of manufacture, enables M Auto to reduce its supply chain costs and solution deployment time.

Mohsen Mohseninia, VP Market Development, EU at Aeris says: “Aeris’ ability to offer secure, intelligent IoT connectivity at the most optimized total cost of ownership ensures that M Auto’s e-bikes are operational and reliable regardless of where they are deployed in Africa.”

M Auto’s vision is to replace all African motorcycles powered by an internal combustion engine with electric by 2030 and create an e-mobility experience that is sustainable, affordable, digitally enabled, and offers an unparalleled mileage range via swappable charging battery stations.

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Three global data center projects of interest and one M&A completion. … [visit site to read more]