Why did we lose out on Google?

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http://intelligencemag.blogspot.com/2007/06/google-sidestepping-sa.html

Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Google sidestepping SA

So Kenya is where it is all happening at the moment. Yes Google’s Sub-Saharan head office is going to be stationed in Kenya. Surely South Africa has the infrastructure and is better managed for one of the biggest global companies around?

No reason was sighted but I am sure that because of Google’s online nature it had something to do with the problems and dilemmas South Africa’s Internet users endure on a daily basis. One could argue that a 4MB ADSL line just won’t cut it.

Whatever Google’s reason is, the fact must strike the heart of all people wanting South Africa to succeed. To lose out on the potential investment Google would put into the country is appalling. And if the Internet regulation is to blame then something needs to be done. But then again we all know this, let’s just hope the people in charge could be as educated.
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I know of a few companies who dont have head offices in SA because of the who BEE crap. And its gonna only gonna happen more and more often...
 
BEE, Telkom, labour laws, more levies and taxes than you can shake a sjambock at, lowest on the service delivery list, political myopia, corruption and general ineffectiveness.

Did I miss any?

OOPS: Crime.
I missed the biggest one of all.
 
Nairobi's nickname is Nairobbery. So crime is probably not the top of google's agenda. I have visited Kenya - it is a dump, in 50 years it will still be a dump.

Trust me, SA is paradise compared to that hell-hole. If google was interested in software development then it would not choose any country in Africa. It is probably interested in something else, something that Kenya - either because of location or because of a lack of competition - can provide.
 
I love Kenya. Their government is clearly committing itself up to making affordable high speed broadband a reality for their people.

Why should they have even considered SA?
 
IMO the biggest possible reason for Google avoiding SA as an African base of operations, has to be the cost and lack of bandwidth in & out of SA, this problem is collectively known as Telkodemonopolies+guavamint where guavamint is embodied by the Grim Poisonous Ivyness Creep as well as all other public service employees that secretly have shares in Telkodemonopolies as well as the Ivy controlled parastatal known as !CASA.
 
Bandwidth is the only reason we lost out...

Where is EASSY going to be landing primarily? Kenya... They have a far more open telecommunication charter....

Losing Google was a huge blow to our IT economy...

" owa ekon-no-meee she is booooo-ming!"
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Eish you obviously struggle to read economic data if you think that is a lie.
 
Kenya is nice, it was safer there than in South-Africa. I lived there for 5 years, we never had problems. You are also treated differently by black people there, with respect, if you are white. You can also see the stars there at night.
 
GavinMannion said:
Eish you obviously struggle to read economic data if you think that is a lie.
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I don't need to "read economic data", I merely need to look around me and at the news channels on what is happening is SA...

This perceived ( and IMO false) "boom" will come crashing down to reality sooner or later, but whatever you need to believe to make you happy.
 
Education is screwed up, it will catch up to us. Least we have a record number of people with matric to brag with. Its a shame a matric certificate means nothing.
 
It is only a Adsense sales office ... no data centre or any technical :).

In July last year, Amazon.com, the world’s most successful online retailer, opened a development centre in Cape Town by recruiting about a dozen developers with a salary package that included “meaningful” share ownership.
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So anybody packing their bags yet because S.A is going down the toilet because of this ???.

You lot are so sadly predictable.
 
tibby.dude said:
It is only a Adsense sales office ... no data centre or any technical :).
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It would seem adsense is only one part of it.
Q: So what does Google want to do?

Initially there will be three big things. Firstly, we want to optimise the use of Google applications in the region. We already have a lot of customers in the region but further development of the market is hindered by the absence of an international cable offering cheap bandwidth.

Google understands that this is an impediment and is willing to go to the extent of buying international bandwidth that locals don't have to pay the current considerable premium they are.

The second thing they want to develop is their Maps product to make sure it has local information that is searchable and useful.

The third thing is using Google advertising in ways that can help monetize local content. Lots of people have done local content but most times it's flopped. We hope to show that there's a way of doing advertising that can support content. If we can do this, it will generate jobs and work.

But I should say clearly that I've only been with the company a week.
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lsuacner said:
Kenya is nice, it was safer there than in South-Africa. I lived there for 5 years, we never had problems. You are also treated differently by black people there, with respect, if you are white. You can also see the stars there at night.
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Not when I was there - about 1 year ago. You cannot walk on the beach, I was accosted and followed for about 1 kilometer. I was accused of being racist because I did not want to buy some trinket or the other. There were people who were talking a dump on the street in the middle of the city centre.

The recent article in The Economist showed a country in disarray, ravaged by tribalism, corruption, incompetence and crime.

Good luck to google, they will soon find out what they are in for.
 
sabagamma said:
There were people who were talking a dump on the street in the middle of the city centre.

The recent article in The Economist showed a country in disarray, ravaged by tribalism, corruption, incompetence and crime.
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Not that much different from SA then
 
tibby.dude said:
So anybody packing their bags yet because S.A is going down the toilet because of this ???.

You lot are so sadly predictable.
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So are you tibby! The staunch Pro ANC Government activist. Just cannot see the little tremors can You. Luckily Google did, and for valid reasons.
 
Im with gavin on this one. I would say bw was a major deciding factor
 
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