Microsoft bets on Africa's IT future

2 comments | 2I like it!
February 1, 2005, 10:40 AM —  IDG News Service — 

Could Africa become the next India?

Faced with the daunting challenges of poverty, underdeveloped infrastructure, disease and civil war, few might consider the continent a budding technology hotspot. Yet over the last decade Microsoft Corp. has been investing money and resources to foster growth in the region and its efforts are starting to pay off.

"Obviously there is a significant gap between Africa and more developed countries, but I must admit it's one of the fastest growing regions in the world," said Jean-Philippe Courtois, chief executive officer for Microsoft in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

The continent is made up of relatively young countries -- in some, over half the population is between 25 and 30 years old -- and its leaders are looking to IT to narrow the development gap, Courtois said.

While Africa is nowhere near supplanting India as an outsourcing location, or China as a consumer market, five to 10 years from now that may start to change as governments in the region focus on hemming up the digital divide.

As an industry powerhouse with profit to burn, Microsoft has made itself central to many of these aspirants' plans. From South Africa to Kenya, and along the Ivory Coast, the software titan has been investing millions of dollars in offices, training centers, education programs and e-government projects to help bring developing communities into the digital age.

While it's clear that Microsoft hopes to eventually reap the benefits of its efforts, allowing it to grow market share at a time when there may be few markets left to claim, it casts its participation in a philanthropic light.

"Our activity in Africa goes way beyond pure business thinking," said Ali Hoballah, Microsoft

IDG News Service

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

I like it!
Comments

ugg classic tall boots

Winter is coming, you and your families still have no ugg boots? Just a problem, Sheepskin boots like ugg classic tall boots is the necessity in the cold witer. Especially in the snow space, ugg classic short boots will keep you warm and safe. At the same time, somebody may say, all of the ugg snow boots, the ugg classic cardy bootsis the best choice. Some online stores also sell these ugg boots at low price, so come on now.
| reply

Re: ugg boots

Hey,WHAT are u interested in fashion ugg boots? The winter is coming soon, I think you need a pair of classic cardy ugg boots to keep your feet warm, or what do you think about classic tall ugg boots and classic short ugg boots? I like these three series ugg boots so much, how about you?
| reply
peer-to-peer

Esther Schindler
If the comments are ugly, the code is ugly

claird
SVG a graphics format for 21st century

pasmith
Take Chrome OS for a test spin

Sandra Henry-Stocker
Solaris Tip: Have Your Files Changed Since Installation?

sjvn
64-bits of protection?

jfruh
Android fragments vs. the iPhone monolith

mikelgan
What Gizmodo missed about the Pro WX Wireless USB disk drive

 

Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325

Join the conversation here

The Daily Tip

The Daily TipQuick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.

Hot tips:

Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.

Newsletters

Subscribe to ITWORLD TODAY and receive the latest IT news and analysis.

I would like to receive offers via email from ITworld partners.
By clicking submit you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in ITworld's privacy policy.
Featured Sponsor

AISO founders envisioned a Web hosting company that was environmentally friendly. While the company employed energy-efficient innovations like solar panels, its infrastructure produced unacceptable power and cooling requirements. Find out how AISO leveraged AMD technology to overcome their challenge in this case study white paper.

In this whitepaper, Scalar explores the opportunity to change the landscape with respect to mission critical databases built around Oracle. Leveraging technologies such as Linux, high-end commodity processing power and Oracle RAC technology to architect, design, build and maintain database infrastructure that delivers maximum availability, reliability and performance at a fraction of traditional cost.

On a typical day, weather.com, the Web site for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, serves up between 15 million and 20 million page views. But in September 2004, when back-to-back hurricanes ransacked Florida, the peak traffic on one day more than tripled: over 70 million page views by more than 7 million unique visitors. Read the full success story now.

Marketplace