Africa Managed Services Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Africa Managed Services Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Africa managed services market is expected to grow at 8.2% CAGR during the forecast period of 2021-2026. Managed services refer to a concept, wherein a third-party service provider manages an organization's in-house day-to-day management functions. Managed services primarily involve the outsourcing services related to network infrastructure, security, mobility, and other functions, though the ownership rights stay with the end-user. The African market for managed services is expected to witness significant demand for managed mobility and network services. There has been a massive shift in focus towards managed services and their applications for both short and long-term strategic decisions.

Key Highlights

• As managed services enable the companies to access enhanced applications and services, it primarily helps the companies target their core strategic areas, while outsourcing the rest of the operations to the service providers with the operational expertise in that domain.
• Also, the managed services for cloud, IoT platforms, containers, DevOps, and Big Data are expected to hold tremendous potential for the managed service providers in the forecast period. According to Cisco, 46% of network devices will be machine-to-machine or IoT by 2020, which are vulnerable to attacks.
• In 2020, there has been a rapid increase in the number of cyberattacks in major African countries like South Africa. For instance, according to the statistics of Kaspersky Lab, South Africa has faced 142,141 network attacks on 28th June, and the number has increased to 294,218 on 3rd July 2020. This has forced companies to adopt security-first thinking. Managed services providers are now putting more effort into securing the service infrastructure of their clients.
• The rapidly increasing adoption and implementation of the cloud for data storage and the introduction of big data analytics contribute to the growth of the market. Moreover, the rapid growth and evolution of IoT technology are also expected to support the growth and development of the market. For instance, Enterprise adoption of Microsoft Azure increased significantly from 43% to 58%, attaining a 35% CAGR while AWS adoption increased from 59% to 68% (RightScale 2018). Also, 80% of enterprises are running apps on or experimenting with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as their preferred cloud platform (RightScale; Flexera Software 2019).
• Managed services companies in the African region are taking advantage of the solutions built by major tech giants to develop their own managed services portfolio. For example, the IT consultancy firms that focus on the implementation, development, and management of SAP-based solutions, Britehouse (a managed service provider present in the African region), have created a flexible platform for delivering hosted SAP solutions as a managed service to businesses throughout Africa.
• As per a recent survey, the African continent’s median age is just 21 years. A young and growing African population with improved digital skills and behavior could offset some of the adverse trends and indicate favorable growth for sectors like telecom and ICT services. The current COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the benefits of a digitized economy, facilitating working from home (WFH). This could prove an opportunity for the African market to accelerate its journey towards raising the bar of digital and telecom services, which play in a socio-economical context.

Key Market TrendsIT & Telecom Industry is Expected to Grow at a Significant Rate Over the Forecast Period

• Africa remains one of the fastest-growing mobile communication markets in the world. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, by 2025, in Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile broadband subscriptions will reach around 70% of the mobile subscriptions, with increased 4G coverage and uptake being the main growth engine. Growth factors behind this shift include a young population and the availability of lower-priced smartphones.
• The region is plagued with the cybersecurity skills shortage, which causes hackers to target organizations, especially banks and telecoms. As stated by the State of Enterprise Security in South Africa 2019, 31% of businesses surveyed expected an attack with the year. Keeping this in mind, Falanx Group Ltd was selected by SolarWinds MSP in the recent past, to serve as a threat monitoring service provider for the delivery and support of SolarWinds Threat Monitoring Service.
• Telephone cost in the country is high due to the high price involved in acquiring poor telecommunication infrastructure. Thus, local companies, such as IT-Simplified, LeftClick, Sensys, and Innovative Solutions, are offering Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as core managed service. In the latest instance, Bigen Group selected LanDynamix to implement a voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) solution for the company’s Bloemfontein office. This new installation is anticipated to reduce telephone costs by up to 50%.

South Africa Country Segment is Expected to Hold a Significant Share Throughout the Forecast Period

• The market in South Africa is facing increasing competition from global counterparts, which are acquiring key contracts. In September 2018, Logicalis Group, comprehensive IT solutions, and managed services provider acquired Clarotech, Capetown-based IP telephony (IPT) cloud, and operated services business. This would help Logicalis to expand their range of offerings across South Africa while jeopardizing Clarotech’s market position.
• In July 2019, Logicalis Group acquired Mars Technologies, an IT services business with offices in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Johannesburg, and East London. This acquisition is a part of the company’s strategy to augment its existing solutions and services business in the country, extend its services capabilities to its enterprise customers, and other customers worldwide through its managed services center of excellence.
• Increased demand for cloud workflows is also causing companies to innovate in this country. In August 2019, South Africa-based MediaCloud partnered with UK-based Object Matrix to develop a secure and scalable multi-tenancy storage platform, provided as the managed service. This would benefit South Africa’s three largest broadcasters, post facilities, and production houses, including Red Pepper Pictures, Clearwater and Homebrew Films, and several largest advertising agencies.
• The rising number of single mobile subscribers and the increasing penetration of mobile are the major factors fuelling the country’s IT & telecom sector’s growth. According to the GSM Association, in 2019, the mobile connections in Sub-Saharan Africa was 45% and expected to reach 67% by 2025. This growth in the region has been driven by the increasing smartphone penetration of South Africa.

Competitive Landscape

Africa managed services market is moderately competitive and consists of a significant number of global and regional players. These players account for a considerable share in the market and focus on expanding their customer base across the region. These players focus on the research and development investment in introducing new solutions, strategic alliances, and other organic & inorganic growth strategies to earn a competitive edge over the forecast period.

• In March 2020, MTN Benin extended its managed services partnership with Ericsson to introduce network managed services offerings with a focus on AI, automation, and analytics. The two companies are already partners on some charging system operations managed services. The newly signed deal, which is already being implemented, includes network operations services and field services in core, radio, and transmission technology.
• In May 2020, Vodacom Group, which offers managed services to enterprises through Vodacom Business Africa (VBA), has simplified its structure following the recent expansion of its African services portfolio and accelerated growth ambitions on the continent. The company has created Vodacom South Africa as a standalone company. The company's growth strategy includes financial and digital services, positioning it as a significant Pan African technology company.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned
 
Cisco Systems
IBM Corporation
HP Development Company LP
NEC Corporation
Accenture PLC
Fujitsu Ltd.
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
Castlerock Managed IT Services Company
LanDynamix Managed IT Services
Dimension Data Holdings PLC

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