From the North to the South the Data Trading Exchange is gaining strength

Nearly a year since Facebook has established the Node Pole[1], a hi-tech hub in northern Sweden Amazon is also taking steps towards the building of its next data center in South Africa[2].

The project is not new to the region since the expansion of Amazon Web Services Inc. has leaded to the development of a data service center in Cape Town in 2006[3].

Besides, Amazon is not alone in the contest of creation digital infrastructures in Africa. Long before the adoption of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) Agreement[4] in June 2015, which has the intention to provide new opportunities for liberalization of the intra-African trade other tech giants like Google and Microsoft[5] have presented their trademarks on the local data market.

Still, the high mobile and fixed retail prices and absence of efficient internet services[6] in many African rural areas remains an issue which should be solved between the local entrepreneurs and global digital companies before the beginning of further major data infrastructural projects.

[1] Harding, L. “The node pole: inside Facebook`s Swedish hub near the Arctic Circle”, The Guardian, Sept 2015, <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/25/facebook-datacentre-lulea-sweden-node-pole> (04.06.2016)

[2] Kay, N. “Amazon to Build A Data Centre In South Africa”, Techvoize.com, June 2016, <https://www.techvoize.com/africa/amazon-data-centre-will-come-south-africa-2357?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter> (04.06.2016)

[3] Zibi, G. “Amazon Web Services Makes Its Africa Push”, LightReading, March 2015, <http://www.lightreading.com/data-center/cloud-strategies/amazon-web-services-makes-its-africa-push/a/d-id/717986> (04.06.2016)

[4] Calestous, J. & Mangeni F. “Cairo to Cape Town: New Free Trade ‘Super Bloc’ Huge for African Economy”, Mark News, June 2015, <http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/25482/cairo_to_cape_town.html?breadcrumb=%2Fpublication%2F26684%2Fnew_research_on_african_regional_integration_from_the_science_technology_and_globalization_project> (04.06.2016)

[5] Wanjiku, R. “Google, Microsoft pilot TV white space projects in Kenya and South Africa”, PCWorld.com, <http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036390/google-microsoft-pilot-tv-white-space-projects-in-kenya-and-south-africa.html> (04.06.2016)

[6] Gillwald, A., Moyo, M. & Stork, Ch. (2012) “Understanding what is happening in ICT in South Africa”, in Evidence for ICT Policy Action, Policy Paper 7

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