Over the last few years, bigwig tech companies - including the likes of Microsoft, Google, Intel, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard (HP) - have expanded to Africa, noting that the key reason behind the move is the massive growth opportunities in the continent.

Africa has become the preferred expansion destination for the bigwig tech companies in recent years because of the fact that growth of tech hardware, software and services in developed markets - such as the US and Western Europe - has either flattened or declined; and competition in emerging markets like China, India and Russia is becoming increasingly fierce.

One of the most noteworthy factors which have made Africa attractive to the world's leading tech firms is the stability in the political situation in most African countries. The stable political situation has encouraged the governments to cooperate and develop joint projects with overseas, multinational corporations.

In addition to the political stability in many African countries, another attraction for bigwig tech firms to expand in the continent is the construction of more tech infrastructure, including undersea fibre optic cable systems which have brought faster broadband connections to Africa's coasts, and terrestrial cables that have extended local networks.

The allurement for leading tech companies to expand to Africa is evident from Microsoft's recent announcement that it was starting a big push for growing its market in the continent; a move which Microsoft said was prompted by the fact that Africa has become a "game changer in the global economy."