The solutions will enable Cassava’s existing and potential customers to process AI workloads and data within national borders in alignment with local requirements and regulations.  

Cassava will begin in South Africa and later expand into Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria.

This phased rollout is in line with Cassava’s expansions planned at its other data centre facilities across Africa.

Cassava will leverage the company’s pan-African high-speed, ultra-low-latency, fibre broadband network, which interconnects the company’s energy-efficient data centres to power AI computing workloads. 

“AI is opening up exciting new opportunities for sparking innovation, advancing competitiveness and driving growth across Africa,” said Mauro Macchi, CEO of Accenture for Europe, Middle East and Africa. “With our deep, global experience in sovereign cloud and AI, Accenture will help Cassava deliver secure, scalable sovereign AI solutions and reimagine its operations. Together, we will enable organizations across the African continent to adopt AI with confidence and unlock new ways to create value.” 

“With our GPUaaS, Cassava will drive the continent’s AI revolution by allowing businesses to access compute power based on their individual needs. This is our commitment to ensuring Africa has the infrastructure and access it needs to compete in the AI era – AI isn’t just a technology story; it’s a nation-building story with inclusion at its centre,” said Ahmed El Beheiry, CEO of Cassava AI. “Collaborating with Accenture allows us to leverage their global expertise in building a sovereign AI cloud capability designed for the African market. This partnership will strengthen data governance, drive practical AI adoption across key industries, and ensure that we provide African solutions for African challenges.” 

Through this collaboration, the two companies will integrate the context, languages, and cultural nuances of the region into these AI solutions, ensuring that the solutions/services are relevant and impactful for African enterprises across key sectors such as financial services, mining, telecommunications, agriculture, and healthcare.

This localised approach will not only strengthen compliance and trust but also ensure that the technology reflects the realities of the markets it serves, enabling businesses to innovate in ways that are meaningful and sustainable. 

Cassava will invest in the infrastructure and platform build-out to ensure readiness for commercialisation, with a focus on scalability, security, and compliance, thereby reinforcing its broader commitment to responsible AI adoption, innovation and productivity growth in Africa. 

Karthik Narain, group CEO and CTO, Accenture called Microsoft a ‘trusted partner.

Karthik’s words:

“Congratulations to Microsoft on this incredible milestone. Accenture is proud to have been a trusted partner on this journey—with more than three decades of joint investment and co-development focused on bringing Microsoft’s transformative technology to organizations across the world. Alongside our joint venture Avanade, we help our clients innovate and reinvent their businesses with Microsoft technology. As the world enters the intelligence era, we believe that deep strategic partnerships like ours are a competitive differentiator and together, we can help accelerate value for every enterprise, government and citizen for the next 50 years and beyond.”

Jerry Kao, COO of Acer Inc. said: “Acer has partnered with Microsoft for four decades, witnessing how their constant innovation has been instrumental to the development of computing technology. From PCs leading to the digital era, and now cloud and artificial intelligence driving transformation all around us, we’re excited to continue working together to create impactful solutions that drive change.”

Shantanu Narayen, the chair and CEO of Adobe wrote:

“Congratulations to Microsoft on your 50th anniversary! This milestone is a testament to your tremendous innovation and impact. Adobe is proud to partner with Microsoft to deliver transformative digital experiences and we’re excited to keep pushing the boundaries of what technology and AI can help deliver for billions of people around the world.”

Also, Dr. Lisa Su, chair and CEO AMD sent congratulatory message to Microsoft: “Congratulations to Satya Nadella and the entire Microsoft team for an amazing 50 years of innovation! Microsoft is truly a pioneer in the industry and AMD is honored to be your partner. I’m incredibly proud of our collaboration and joint work together over the years—from driving the industry standard for personal computing with Windows, to powering the most important Azure cloud services used by so many every day with AMD EPYC and Instinct, to reaching billions of gamers with Xbox. I look forward to all we will do together over the coming years! Together, we’re shaping the future of AI and the next generation of computing.”

S.Y. Hsu and Samson Hu, Co-CEO of ASUS:

“We are honored and proud to have built a solid, long-term partnership with Microsoft for over 30 years, a company that remains at the forefront of cutting-edge technology, and that has helped ASUS achieve its AI integration goals. We look forward to many more successful years of future collaboration.”

Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer, Dell Technologies also felicitates with the partner: “For more than four decades, Dell’s partnership with Microsoft has driven breakthrough innovations that transform industries, empower customers and improve lives around the world. Together, we’ve redefined possibilities, from personal computing to the AI-driven technologies shaping our future, and we look forward to what lies ahead.”

Jim Johnson, senior vice president, Client Computing Group, Intel:

“For decades, Intel’s partnership with Microsoft has sparked innovation and delivered value to our customers. Together, we’ve revolutionized industries and established new benchmarks for excellence. We look forward to collaborating for the next 50 years—and beyond.”

Carl Carande, global head of Advisory at KPMG International and Vice Chair of Advisory at KPMG in the US: “Our long-standing strategic alliance with Microsoft continues to drive transformative digital innovation, enabling us to deliver greater value to clients and accelerate business outcomes. We are committed to working together with Microsoft to help organizations harness AI and emerging technologies to navigate complexity, unlock new opportunities, and lead with confidence in the intelligent age. We continue to advance our 360-degree relationship, working with Microsoft to lead the future of innovation for our own operations, for Microsoft and for clients.”

Yuanqing Yang, CEO and chairman, Lenovo:

“Having worked alongside every CEO of Microsoft in my career, I would like to personally congratulate Microsoft for its 50 extraordinary years of driving relentless innovation. From PC to mobile, and now onto the AI era, Lenovo and Microsoft have partnered in bringing personal computing to every household, enhancing enterprise productivity with Microsoft Office, and most recently in powering more personalized, productive, and protected Lenovo AI PCs with Copilot+ experiences, delivering cloud- based services and AI-driven IT solutions, enabling scalable infrastructure for the new AI era, and working towards a vision of personal AI twins and enterprise AI twins. Lenovo is proud to be a major part of this amazing journey with Microsoft and we are committed to this partnership for many more decades to come.”

Jeff Fisher, senior vice president for GeForce at NVIDIA: “Microsoft’s contribution to advancing computing over the past 50 years is worth celebrating. The NVIDIA and Microsoft partnership will continue to deliver the next era of accelerated computing and AI, from GeForce gaming to RTX AI PCs.”

Stephanie Mosticchio, principal, US and Global Microsoft Alliance Leader, PwC:

“As a proud Microsoft alum, I’ve seen firsthand how our collaboration has evolved to drive meaningful change for businesses across industries. From strategy through engineering and implementation, PwC and Microsoft drive innovation and deliver real business outcomes for clients worldwide.”

Matt Hicks, president and CEO Red Hat: “Red Hat and Microsoft have a long history of driving customer success together, from the datacenter to the cloud, out to the edge, and now, into the AI era. We continue to bring together Red Hat’s open-source expertise with Microsoft’s leading cloud capabilities to meet our customers wherever they are in their IT roadmap.”

Jay Kim, executive vice president and head of Customer Experience Office, Samsung:

“Partnering with Microsoft has allowed us to leverage cutting-edge technology, set new standards for excellence, and deliver value to our customers. Our collaboration has driven innovation, delivering the most premium PC experience in the industry with the Galaxy Book series, and seamlessly integrating Galaxy smartphone and PC capabilities to create an experience that truly resonates with our customers.”

Christian Klein, CEO, SAP: “Many congratulations to the entire Microsoft team on this milestone anniversary! For 50 years, you have been at the forefront of technology and our longstanding partnership is a testament to our two companies’ shared commitment to innovation and transformation. Together, we have driven significant advancements in key areas from cloud computing to AI, always enabling our customers to stay ahead in an ever-evolving digital landscape. We’re excited about the many ways Microsoft and SAP will continue to push the boundaries and look forward to the next chapter in your incredible success story.”

Frederic Godemel, executive vice president, Energy Management, Schneider Electric:

“Schneider Electric and Microsoft have been driven by a shared vision of world that is more electric and digital. We’re thrilled to celebrate Microsoft’s 50th anniversary and excited to continue pioneering innovative solutions together, harnessing the transformative power of AI, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for our customers and shaping a sustainable future for generations to come.”

Erica Volini, executive vice president of Worldwide Industries, Partners, and Go-to-market at ServiceNow: “50 years is an enormous milestone, and it’s our honor to celebrate Microsoft as both a customer and partner on their journey. Their history of innovation has been instrumental in shaping the future of technology and is why ServiceNow values our partnership so deeply. Together we will keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and transforming how business gets done. Here’s to another 50 years!”

Tyler Prince, senior vice president, Worldwide Alliances and Channels, Snowflake:

“As someone who has led global partnerships at several of the world’s leading technology companies, I am impressed by how Microsoft has leaned in with their partner ecosystem and taken a leadership position in cloud computing and AI. We, at Snowflake, are excited to continue to strengthen our partnership in the years to come, and we look forward to jointly driving customer success in the age of enterprise AI. Congratulations Microsoft and thank you for your leadership and innovation.”

Krishna Mohan, head of Cloud Business Group, TCS: “In the past five decades, Microsoft has consistently pushed the boundaries of technology, transforming the way we live, work, and connect. Microsoft’s role in democratizing technology innovation at scale has empowered organizations worldwide to streamline operations and enhance productivity.

This relentless pursuit of excellence and commitment to groundbreaking solutions is common to both our organizations, especially as we deliver sustainable innovations that underscore our shared dedication to creating a better future for generations to come. Congratulations to Microsoft on reaching 50 years of innovation.”

Kedar Kondap, senior vice president and general manager, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.:

“Qualcomm is proud of our collaboration with Microsoft, from which we have delivered world-changing technology to market over the years. We share a commitment to delivering innovative solutions, and could not be more excited for what’s to come.”

50 hearty cheers to Microsoft!

Some of the prominent key players in the global remote workplace services market are:

• Wipro (India)
• HCL Technologies (India)
• TCS (India)
• Atos (France)
• Accenture (Ireland)
• IBM (US)
• NTT Data (Japan)
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (US) and many more…

As per verticals, the IT & ITeS segment to grow at highest CAGR during the forecast period

Remote workplace services market is segmented into government and public sector, banking financial services & insurance (BFSI), IT & ITeS, consumer goods & retail, healthcare & life sciences, manufacturing, telecommunication, media & entertainments, and others.

As per verticals, IT & ITeS is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 25.2% during the forecast period.

The use of remote workspace services in the IT & ITeS sector is growing. In this vertical, remote workplace services helps to concentrate on their core competencies and boost productivity, businesses outsource their IT requirements, such as IT assets, mobility, network, security, and communication, to digital workplace managed service providers.

Enterprise mobility management solution to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The remote workplace services market by solution is segmented into unified communication and collaboration, unified endpoint management, and enterprise mobility management.

During the forecast period, enterprise mobility & management solution to grow at the highest CAGR of 24.2% as such solution offers combination of tools, procedures, and guidelines which is used in organizations to protect and control the use of employee- and company-owned mobile devices.

The built-for-business mobile productivity apps that enterprise mobility and management solutions provide, such as email, calendar, a secure web browser, document editing, and remote access to enterprise resources such as apps, desktops, and files, allow mobile employees to be just as productive and secure as in the office.

Enterprise mobility & management solutions are provided by various vendors in the remote workplace services market including IBM, Wipro, TCS, Atos, NTT Data, Unisys, and Accenture.

Higher rate of technology adoption helped North America to capture highest market share

North American countries such as US and Canada strong economic landscape, huge IT budgets, high technology assimilation, and the early adoption of advanced technologies are expected to boost the demand for remote workplace services across North American enterprises.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also increased remote working adoption across all industries for US businesses.

The pandemic has enhanced the importance of remote workplace adoption, due to the rising number of investments made to improve remote workplaces in order to stay competitive, offer better employee experience, and reduce infrastructure costs.

The awards, designed to take place throughout Africa on 6 October 2022, have been active for nine years. The platform enables sharing stories, strategies and conversations for organizations to participate and share best practices in corporate gender mainstreaming.

This year’s 10th GMA ceremony follows the successful virtual ceremony held in 2021, which was watched by over 8000 attendees across the continent despite a raging pandemic.

“Even with the difficulties of holding awards ceremonies and rewarding excellence in gender mainstreaming, the Gender Mainstreaming Awards experience must never stop”, says Colleen Larsen, Chief Executive of Business Engage and President of the 30% Club East and Southern Africa.

Eligibility 

Business Engage is calling for nominations from companies that have developed initiatives and are making strides to accelerate diversity with an emphasis on gender mainstreaming. 

For company nominations there are various categories; these include Women on Boards Award, Equal Representation & Participation Award, Women Empowerment in the Workplace Award, Investing in Young Women Award and Mainstreaming Gender & Disability Award, to name a few.

There are also three individual categories, RMB Africa’s Fearless Thinker Award, the Inclusive Leader Award and the Positive Role Model Award.

“We have selected some of the most prominent business leaders who are an excellent representation of what the awards stand for to be judges in the different regions”, comments Larsen.

Accenture. the sponsors for the 2022 awards, are themselves making major contributions in their respective industries towards gender mainstreaming.

Ntombi Mangwani, Africa Director for Integrated Marketing and Communications, and Women’s Forum lead at Accenture says, “At Accenture, we are proud to be part of an organization that has for many years been a leader and champion of inclusion, diversity and gender equality in every form. As we have this as a business imperative, we would like to help other organisations to get to where we are, and also celebrate the leaders who have taken the important step of doing the right thing.”

How to apply 

There is no cost to applying and all applications can be done on the Gender Mainstreaming Awards website.

Entries close on 28 June 2022 and the awards ceremony will take place virtually on October 6, 2022. Submit your nomination and be part of the virtual awards ceremony.