THE BIG BOYS ARE MOVING IN…

11 Feb 2014 – And it’s all about technology as US-based technology giant, IBM announces a push of its operations across Africa with the opening of an IBM Innovation Centre in Lagos, Nigeria.

Ventures Africa tells us that the new facility is designed to accelerate innovation for Nigerian and West African business, providing IT partners, developers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and academics access to enhanced cloud capabilities and extensive big data and analytic resources.

IBM West Africa Country General Manager, TaiwoOtiti is quoted as saying “The investment will help fuel growth in Nigeria’s IT sector and to support the use of advanced technology service delivery for the public sector and commercial business growth, particularly expansion in West Africa,”

Now this move is obviously being taken with consideration of the rapid adoption of cloud technology across Africa; in Nigeria alone, cloud usage is expected to more than double to 80 percent of businesses in the next year. We are also told that the IMF projects that Sub Saharan Africa is set to be the world’s second fastest growing region with projected economic growth of over 6 percent this year.