African edge computing firm inq. is preparing for an extensive Africa expansion, amid plans to venture into the continent’s private 5G market.
The Convergence Partners-owned firm, which connects over 1 200 corporations across the continent, says it sees a ripe market for edge computing developments in Africa, and is set to expand into more countries.
The company offers edge-based artificial intelligence services to organisations across SA, Malawi, Botswana, Lagos, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and the UK.
Naresh Thukkani, group head of Fabric at inq. told ITWeb that a big part of the company’s growth strategy is fuelled by the increasing data centre investments on the continent. This presents opportunities for not only edge computing, but other verticals, such as private 5G, he noted.
The expansion will see inq., founded by businessman Andile Ngcaba, spread further into Africa.
“In phase two of our expansion, we are going to cover the adjacent markets and expand to 15 locations. We will start our phase two expansion in January, and so people should expect that by the end of March, some of the adjacent markets would have been established.
“There a is huge demand for edge in Africa and inq. is a major enterprise connectivity player. We are developing our own IP and technology stacks internally, so that we can become the leading technology provider on the continent,” explained Thukkani.
As data demand and cloud adoption continue to cause a surge in traffic, data centres are becoming increasingly important on the continent, he added.
The rapid growth in Africa’s cloud sector is leading to more international players choosing to invest in the market.
With hyper-scalers such as Microsoft and Amazon Web Services establishing presence in Africa, and further big players, such as Google, expected to open their cloud region locally, this is expected to further spur the continent’s digital transformation.
As such, inq. has identified opportunities within the private 5G market, and plans to provide fifth-generation networking tech offerings in future, he continued.
“Our next division is going to be in the private 5G space, which is mostly targeted at enterprises. Industry 4.0 use cases are more prevalent in Africa − more so than in other regions − because of the large mining and manufacturing sector. Mining companies usually use IOT, spread across a large area, and companies can’t just rely on WiFi for connectivity, which has its own security issues.
“This is a new revolution that enterprises have been waiting for, for a long time. Our intention is to help them lower the barriers to transition to 5G. So, that is where our innovative solutions will come from, when we work in the private 5G space to help companies innovate faster. One of the services we are looking at offering is private 5G-as-a-service.”
This is a managed service that makes it easier for organisations to deploy, operate and scale their own private mobile network, with all required hardware and software supplied by the managed service provider.
Earlier this month, inq. unveiled Fabric, a network-as-a-service software solution for automated network provisioning and routing.
Following an 18-month development cycle, Fabric was introduced to provide businesses – from multinationals to small and medium enterprises – with heightened data-sharing efficiency, more secure connections, and assist with the setting up of networks and authorising access for users, devices and services, according to inq.
“Across the continent, Africa is improving its digital infrastructure through new data centres, terrestrial connectivity and undersea cabling. But between these new developments and a widening number of hyperscalers, we need a unified platform to stitch these complex infrastructure elements together,” noted Thukkani.
In June, the Competition Commission approved inq. Digital’s proposal to acquire Syrex, a fibre and virtual private network provider.
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