Cloud computing adoption in sub-Saharan Africa: An analysis using institutions and capabilities

Abstract

Cloud computing can provide remote access to computing resources via the internet. It has the potential to transform economic activities considering its inherent pay-per usage model, flexibility and scalability features. This paper uses a socio-technical framework that maximizes selected development impact factors to analyze the use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud applications in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings from this study show that there are several exciters and inhibitors to cloud computing adoption in sub-Saharan Africa. It also shows why security, privacy and trust issues as well as fear of data loss associated with cloud computing are viewed as exciters/enablers of the technology instead of inhibitors as the case is in the global north. There is equally no evidence found on regulatory or legislative policies affecting data location or protection at present. Furthermore, the findings show that these exciters and inhibitors are perceived by the users to interact associatively with each other to influence adoption. These findings will be of interest to policy makers and entrepreneurs interested in developing IS/ICT infrastructure.