The regional executive West Africa at the Africa Data Centres (ADC), Dr. Krishnan Ranganath has been crowned the ‘Man of the Year’ at the Africa’s Beacon of Information and Communications Technology Merit and Leadership Award 2023.
Presenting the award to Dr. Krish as he is fondly called in the ICT industry in Nigeria, the organizer of the award ceremony, Nigeria Communications Week, noted that ‘Man of the Year’ is the highest award given to an individual each year.
“We are honoured to present to Dr. Krishnan Ranganath, Regional Executive-West Africa at the Africa Data Centres, ‘Man of the Year’ award,” announced Mr. Ken Nwogbo, founder and editor-in-chief of Nigeria Communications Week at the event held at the prestigious Oriental Hotel in Lagos.
He disclosed that Dr. Krishnan Ranganath was chosen for the award by critical industry stakeholders, who believe he has brought a lot of expertise into the data centre space, which is touted as the new oil.
Now in its 14th year, Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Award is regarded as the most prestigious annual event available in Nigeria’s ICT industry. Industry watchers and analysts see the award designed to reward individuals and corporate organization as merit centric.
Meanwhile, a visibly surprised Dr. Krishnan has described the award as heart-warming and thought-provoking, especially as he did not expect such an honour from a media organization and other industry stakeholders.
He believes the award is more of a challenge for him to work harder.
“I am surprised to have been called out for this recognition. My takeaway from this recognition is that the industry appreciates what we are doing at Africa Data Centres to empower businesses in Nigeria and Africa,” he told Journalists on the sideline.
Earlier in a lecture, he presented at the event titled ‘Digital Transformation and Cloud Services as New Order’, Dr. Krishnan had stated that the Nigerian cloud industry, which is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% from 2022 to 2027 presents ample opportunities for businesses: integrating emerging technologies like edge computing, AI, machine learning, IoT, and blockchain.
He believes that Nigeria’s cloud will lead to capital flight reduction, improved responsiveness to citizens’ or customers’ needs, increased transparency, enhanced public service delivery and enhanced human capital and create new jobs.
Speaking about the digital gap, he argued that capacity building and promoting women in ICT are important for bridging the digital divide and promoting inclusive growth. “In Nigeria, only 22% of ICT jobs are held by women.
Encouraging and promoting women’s participation in ICT can lead to increased innovation and economic growth,” he said.
Digital transformation and cloud services as new order will ensure the growth of Nigeria and Africa by creating a base for future generations and positioning Nigeria as the Silicon Valley for human capital and creating value for the system and people. It will also transform Nigeria by providing new opportunities for businesses and individuals.
However, this transformation requires local infrastructure and a commitment to cloud neutrality. Thanks to the likes of Africa Data Centres, which is already doing this by supporting the development of local digital economies, enabling businesses to innovate and compete on a global scale leveraging its world-class data centre infrastructure in Lagos and other African countries such as Kenya and South.
