Deon Geyser CEO, Liquid Intelligent Technologies SA

Cassava Technologies' operating companies Africa Data Centres (ADC), Liquid Intelligent Technologies (Liquid) and Liquid C2 are making a push to capture a large share of the African tech market.

They were among the many tech brands that attended the Africa IT Festival 2024, in Cape Town last week. 

At the event, they shared their expansion plans and explained the importance of investment-friendly regulatory frameworks in dealing with the continent's digital infrastructure challenges.

Liquid SA CEO Deon Geyser spoke with ITWeb Africa about how the company is supporting Africa's digital economy through partnerships, while emphasising the importance of investment-friendly legislation for digital infrastructure development.

“We work in about 50 markets on the continent and we take a lot of learning out of the broader group [Cassava],” he said.

To address digital infrastructure challenges, he said: “My view is that the first step is having the right investment-friendly policy framework because no one is going to invest in long-term programmes [if policies are not friendly].

“It’s not programmes that you think of today and start activating tomorrow. They take long, in terms of planning cycle, funding cycles and then build-out cycles. So, having the right policy framework, which provides security to investors to come in, is very important.”

Geyser also shared with ITWeb Africa how the company is leveraging public-private partnerships (PPPs) to broaden its reach.

On the same day, Liquid announced it had renewed its partnership with the Western Cape Provincial Government, which will see it make an investment of over $111 million channelled towards the project, over the next seven years.

“What’s nice about the PPP model, is it opens up other opportunities for government to create efficiencies. Once you start to put connectivity into government buildings, you can then start to also look at automated services, you can start to look at digital community services and digital citizen-related services,” he said.

In addition, Geyser commented on the strategic evolution and market positioning of Liquid, highlighting its transition from a Liquid Telecoms model to a focus on Liquid Intelligent Technologies since 2021.

He highlighted Liquid’s recent expansion into cloud, cyber security and managed network services, which he said aligned the company’s offerings with current market demands and technological trends. 

Bringing Azure Stack to Africa

Vinay Hiralall, chief commercial officer of Liquid C2, another Cassava Technologies-owned company, discussed how it is introducing Azure Stack to Africa and the advantages of edge computing.

Hiralall stressed the importance of Azure Stack, saying it addresses data sovereignty by keeping data within countries, hence increasing adoption.

In terms of Azure adoption market trends, he stated the business intends to deploy Azure Stack infrastructure across Africa, but that East Africa, particularly Uganda, is currently experiencing strong adoption rates due to increased tech awareness and cyber security concerns.

“We have now deployed six instances of Azure, most recently in Uganda and that part of our edge cloud computing programming,” said Hiralall.

“I think in the east African market − collectively between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda − Uganda has surprised me quite a bit in terms of their rate of adoption. I think people understand the difference in technology a bit more. They want to utilise the best of breed technologies, but equally so, there is a lot of cyber security attacks and threats coming.”

In addition, he said the increasing need for edge computing leads to tailored server sizes, blending Azure public cloud and edge solutions.

Hiralall pointed out that Azure Stack solves data sovereignty issues because data remains within the country.

“The data does not leave and it’s usually a private stack by an enterprise organisation, or it’s a Server Message Block stack used by multiple organisations.”

Going forward, Hiralall said: “We are starting to see high demand also in West Africa, not driven by data sovereignty, but driven more by industry-specific needs.

“So, a lot of fintechs that need high compute want their private stack because of their own internal compliance and industry compliance.”

Continental potential

ADC interim CEO Finhai Munzara, speaking during a fireside chat, titled: “The rise of co-location: How African enterprises are leveraging shared data centres for growth”, underlined the continent's huge potential in the data centre sector.

The chat also outlined a three-pronged strategy to address power and infrastructure challenges, emphasising the need for efficiency, renewable energy sources, and strategic partnerships with fibre and power companies.

Furthermore, the discussion touched on the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing data centre operations and identified various barriers, such as power access and data sovereignty