The Need to Accelerate Cloud Adoption in Developing Countries of Africa

Abstract

Cloud computing is an emerging computing paradigm that has been made very easy to use and adopt as a result of complex technological abstraction. It increases the economic benefit of individuals and organizations by reducing cost of system operation and maintenance. This has made some countries to embrace the technology in order to compete in the global village. The consequences of slow adoption of this promising technology in African countries need to be addressed. This study shifts ground from slow adoption to strategies of rapid acceptance of cloud computing in African developing countries. It compared the cloud readiness and level of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) of four Non-African developing countries (China, India, Brazil and Mexico) against four African developing countries (Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya and Ghana). Results indicated that African developing countries are lagging behind. This places them in a competitive disadvantage in the economy of the information age. The study suggests that African developing countries need to invest and give proper legislative attention to cloud economy in order to close the digital divide that keeps on widening as time passes by.