Microsoft East Africa and Liquid Telecom have joined forces to improve and accelerate the use of cloud services across Africa. The companies said the joint project will help boost the continent’s access to world-class software. Microsoft has a long-term strategic vision to enable affordable broadband access to its customers to empower business and increase productivity. To move this objective forward, Microsoft will collaborate with Liquid Telecom, a pan-African telecommunications provider that operates the region’s largest independent fibre network, which spans over 40,000km across twelve countries.
The joint effort will focus on the delivery of cloud services, small-and-medium business development and the enablement of a television white space technology and partner ecosystem to provide further connectivity across the continent.
Businesses across Africa have traditionally been slower adopters of cloud services, particularly in areas with limited ICT infrastructure. The partnership will address this by combining Liquid Telecom’s extensive network reach with Microsoft’s innovative business solutions that bring the cloud closer to the end user. Through fast and more affordable connectivity, Microsoft’s extensive cloud-based software offerings, such as Azure and Office 365, will become more accessible through Liquid Telecom. This will enhance business potential and enable startups and home-grown operations to be more productive and efficient.
As part of the project, Microsoft and Liquid Telecom will also be creating ‘Business in a Box’, which will offer small-and-medium businesses a cloud-based toolkit of relevant applications, cloud services and connectivity. The project, with the scope to influence and improve the capabilities of cloud computing in Africa, will accelerate the economic growth and competitiveness of Africa.
Source: Telecompaper.com