By Dion Harvey, Regional General Manager at Red Hat Sub-Saharan Africa
Editor’s Note: This article is part of TechArena Executive Insights, a curated series featuring perspectives from industry leaders across Africa’s digital economy. The views expressed are those of the author.
If there’s one lesson about enterprise IT to take away from 2025, it’s to never take anything for granted. The last twelve months have shown us that organisations in Africa cannot be complacent when it comes to technology.
Disruptions can come thick and fast. But so do new opportunities. Developments such as the local construction of infrastructure, such as data centres, the continued adoption of cloud computing, and the impact of AI set the stage for more and more businesses to leverage digital technologies like never before. Adding to that, digital sovereignty emerged as a major topic as customers are demanding more control over their data and a clearer understanding of their digital supply chains.
When it comes to making the most out of 2026 technology, here are the things that African enterprises need to consider.
Modernisation is the still name of the game
Companies will continue to focus on driving innovation throughout their organisations, especially when it comes to applications they’re able to modernise to deliver value in new and different ways. This is particularly true in highly competitive sectors such as telecommunications and financial services, where customer experience are critical differentiators. Case in point, 2025 saw South Africa’s largest banks increase their spend on IT by as much as 32% year on year, driven by focus areas such as core IT functions, modernisation and experimenting with new technologies.
Also critical to companies modernizing applications is the promise of embedding AI-driven features and solutions. The question then becomes, “Is this a modernization discussion or an AI discussion?” In reality, the two are now inseparable. Success in 2026 requires moving past the era where modernisation, virtualization and AI were treated as separate strategies. Instead, they must be reimagined as the unified execution layer where mission-critical legacy workloads and data-hungry AI inference live side-by-side. This approach isn’t just technical but also cultural as enterprises will have to bring AI operational disciplines directly into existing workload platforms. By standardizing on a consistent hybrid cloud foundation, organizations can provide seamless value to end users while maintaining the agility required to scale.
The cloud debate is still valid, as is taking a hybrid approach
With the Middle East and Africa cloud computing market forecasted to grow by nearly 19% every year until 2032, digital-first strategies are often the default for both businesses and governments. Cloud computing sits at the heart of digital transformation, promising new opportunities and innovative business use cases that were previously not possible.
However, no digital-first strategy is complete without businesses considering what needs to stay on-premise and what can be moved to the public cloud. Businesses need to define where and how their software is hosted and accessed, the relevant compliance and data privacy requirements, and their overall scalability needs. For many, the answer lies with hybrid cloud solutions that let businesses move and run workloads where they need to while enabling the system scalability they need to grow. For many, the future of cloud computing is defined by having the best of both worlds, cloud and on-premises
Sovereignty is now front of mind
2025 was a year of tumultuous global dynamics, leading enterprises worldwide to seriously consider the topic of digital sovereignty and the independence of their data and systems. The same goes for Africa. Whereas previously the topic of sovereignty was never the first to come up in meetings between technology vendors and their customers, the order of priority has now changed, as businesses evaluate their own unique sovereignty positions.
Sovereignty means different things to different industries, but going forward, companies will be looking to take proactive steps towards their technology and systems resilience, eliminating single points of failure by adopting multi- or hybrid cloud strategies and reinforcing their ability to migrate data and applications between regions, platforms, and vendors. This alignment is crucial as the African Union Data Policy Framework begins to harmonize digital standards across the continent, pushing for a ‘Digital Single Market.’ However, the AU framework is only the starting point; we are seeing a surge in local, sector-specific guidance that adds granular layers of compliance. By embracing open, interoperable systems, African businesses can navigate this patchwork of national rules without fragmenting their architecture, allowing them to move beyond mere compliance and begin to lead their own digital destiny.
AI with agency
The boardroom conversation on AI has fundamentally matured. In 2026, the focus has shifted from the theoretical potential of LLMs to operationalizing AI, as organizations move from proof-of-concepts to full-scale production. Here success depends on having the right platforms and practices to productionize AI-workloads and applications at scale. It’s the same governance and security requirements you’d demand from any other mission-critical IT asset.
This is where open source becomes the strategic lever rather than just a technology choice. Open source acts as your pathway to enable your innovation strategy. By retaining flexibility, you ensure that your architecture adapts to your business needs, mitigating the risks of vendor lock-in and the technical debt of closed ecosystems. This approach provides the cost-predictability and long-term sustainability that decision-makers, customers, and shareholders now demand for mission-critical investments. With open source, you have the freedom to run any model, on any accelerator, on any cloud.
For these and more stories, follow us on X (Formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn and Telegram. You can also send us tips or reach out at info@techarena.co.ke.
Also Read: Red Hat Launches AI Enterprise Platform to Move Businesses Beyond AI Pilots