Previously, if an international corporation invested in a pan-African tech project, it was all but obvious that the tech project would be managed by a South African company, given that the country embraced technology ahead of many African countries.

But with the entry of fiber-optic cables along the Eastern seaboard three years ago, Kenya has emerged as a new tech power, with companies tackling projects in the financial, utility, telecom and government sectors.

Mobile commerce services provider Cellulant was recently awarded continental tech projects by Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank while systems integrator and service provider Seven Seas Technology was awarded a large infrastructure project in Zambia and has enterprise-level projects in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia. Other companies handling regional projects are financial systems company Craft Silicon, ICT service provider Next Technology and IT services company Software Technologies, among other companies.

"The South African market is by far a large and mature market but also very regulated; apart from being a market that is offering single-digit growth, Kenya offers high-margin growth opportunities but there are risks involved," said Michael Macharia, CEO and founder of the Seven Seas Technology Group.

Entry of global brands like IBM, Oracle, Cisco, Microsoft and Ericsson, among others, has led to increased competition for local contracts in the financial and government sectors. Major financial and government contracts have been awarded to global companies.