There’s been good news recently for South Africa’s telecommunications sector, with Cassava Technologies and AWS announcing major investments and Vodacom saying it plans to enhance its network spending.
Integrated technology company Cassava Technologies has pledged a total of R4.5 billion (about US$248 million) in investment in South Africa through its business units Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa Data Centres and Distributed Power Africa.
Cassava's investment pledge comprises key projects, including the expansion of the Liquid Intelligent Technologies fibre network, the extension of Africa Data Centres’ capacity and footprint, enhanced cloud and cybersecurity capacity, and the rollout of clean, renewable energy by Distributed Power Africa in South Africa.
Cassava says its investments will contribute towards positioning South Africa as an attractive investment destination and enable greater inclusion of all South Africans consistent with Cassava's vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind.
Meanwhile, cloud services provider Amazon Web Services says it will invest up to another R14.8 billion (US$815.6 million) in its cloud infrastructure in South Africa by 2029 on top of the R15.6 billion (US$860 million) it has already invested in the country, notably in Cape Town, where it has built a data centre region.
The total investment, says AWS, aims to contribute R68 billion (US$3.75 billion) to South Africa’s GDP and support more than 5,700 jobs.
Finally, operator Vodacom says it will spend at least R12 billion (US$661 million) per year on average on its network in South Africa over the next five years, well above the average R10 billion US$551 million per year it has spent in the past five years.
As with a similar announcement recently from MTN, much of this is likely to be connected to ensuring network resilience against theft, vandalism and power cuts.