For the IaaS industry, a market that is set to grow by $101.56 billion in the next five years, the African continent holds a special potential for growth. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is already attracting droves of international companies. Heficed, a provider of network infrastructure solutions, is among those who see a profitable future in the country, having recently launched a new server location in Nigeria’s capital Lagos.
“Nigeria is at the center of the African continent,” says Vincentas Grinius, Heficed’s CEO, who has already overseen the company’s expansion into South Africa in 2013. “It offers a great base for access to East Africa.” Heficed is at the forefront of the IaaS industry’s development in the region, setting up shop at Nigeria’s only Tier 1 data center. Infrastructure is still brand new, and it shows: all of the company’s servers are wired using superior 10G technology.
Heficed can thus immediately offer its services to its global customers. These services include IP address solutions, dedicated servers, and IP transit. “We are partnering up with some of East Africa’s largest ISPs to make our products available as widely as possible,” explains Grinius.
Demand for Heficed’s services in the region has been high, so providing their accessibility at the earliest opportunity was a priority, Grinius says: “Our customers have been pressing us about Nigeria for a while now. The industry is always developing and customer satisfaction is our chief priority.”
Even though companies offering IaaS solutions compete with each other on a single, worldwide market, the quality of its services is closely tied to a company’s local presence. “Even though West Africa is a highly requested region, very few IaaS-providers actually have a presence there. This gives us a competitive advantage that we are intent on expanding – eventually, we plan on covering East Africa, too,” Grinius comments.
Having local server bases is especially important for businesses relying on low latency in their services, such as VPNs or purchasing algorithms. “Global coverage on the ground is crucial for network infrastructure providers who want to attract those customers,” adds Grinius. “With our new presence in Nigeria, we maintain peak service quality in yet another region.”
But Heficed is expecting a sleuth of local clients as well. With Nigeria’s economy, its internet accessibility is growing, too. Between 2015 and 2019, the share of the population with access to the internet increased by 10 percent. “Over half the country already has steady internet access, and that number will certainly continue growing. With its massive, young population, this translates into the significant potential for new and existing internet-based industries,” concludes Grinius. “The future of our industry lies in Africa.”
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