Less than two months after ‘Technology Person of the Year’ at Tech Innovation Awards 2023, Dr. Krishnan Ranganath, Regional Executive – West Africa at Africa Data Centres, has yet again been named ‘Face of Data Centre Ecosystem 2023’.
This time, it is the management of TechCastle Foundation, who saw him worthy of the recognition at this year’s Africa Tech Alliance Excellence (ATAEx) Awards, which was organized in partnership with Techeconomy.
The award was the highlight of the Africa Tech Alliance Forum (AfriTECH 3.0) with the theme: “Technology-as-a-Service (TaaS) in Emerging Economy”, held in Ikeja-Lagos last week.
“This award is a great approval rating for you in recognition of your innovations, contributions and commitments to the growth of data centre sub-sector in Africa’s region,” said Chike Onwuegbuchi, Co-Founder of TechCastle Foundation, while presenting the award to Princess Isreal, Key Account Manager at Africa Data Centres on behalf of Dr. Krishnan Ranganath.
Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation, Dr. Krish acknowledged that the award is coming at a time the data centre ecosystem in Africa is beginning to experience patronage from both local and international organisations, owing to the advocacy for local content hosting.
“It gladdens my heart that the effort some of us have put into the data centre ecosystem is gradually yielding results and contributing to the industry, which presently accounts for 17.47 percent of Nigeria’s total GDP, amounting to ₦3.1 trillion ($6.7 billion) in the first quarter of 2023 according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS),” he said.
He disclosed that Africa Data Centres in Lagos is adding more capacity to cater for the local requirements needed to attract more organisations to host their content and data in Nigeria and indeed Africa.
Industry veterans’ recognition of Dr. Krish’s contributions to the African data centre ecosystem and promoting local content across Africa and to the world did not start today. Recalled, he was also crowned the ‘Man of the Year’ at Africa’s Beacon of Information and Communications Technology Merit and Leadership Award 2023.
Dr. Krishnan Ranganath is a Senior Executive with over three decades of experience in global market mechanics with diverse Multinationals across Emerging Markets. Worked with numerous IT/ITES and Telecommunications players for a range of large and very elaborate projects. Managed multi-million-dollar projects, land large and disparate teams across various regions and time zones. Instrumental and a key stakeholder in the initiation and management of multiple networks & data centres across geographies.