Tech in Africa
Amazon Web Services, AWS are advancing their cloud services blueprint infrastructure in Africa. This week marked the launch of their AWS region in Cape Town, South Africa. The three availability zones launched will give African developers, enterprises, government institutions, and related industries an opportunity to build their cloud computing apps and store this data locally. The aim is to reach every part of the African continent – including areas with low latency.
Using AWS Direct Connect clients can now connect to AWS resources available in the AWS region directly. Teraco has been one of the leading AWS Direct Connect partners since 2017 and will now offer AWS services at their Johannesburg and Cape Town data centers. There are over 250 network providers within the facilities presenting an ability to make an Africa-wide claim.
The announcement on the setting up of the cloud region happened back in 2018 in a press release. The timing of their launch is strategic as demand for cloud-based solutions is on the rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic. AWS currently covers 10 percent of the company’s revenue, $10 billion if we are to go by last quarter reporting.
The three zones will comprise several data centers situated in strategic locations to ensure smooth running and continuity in the event of a disruption in one place. Amazon’s “availability zones” are now 73 by count and span across 23 geographical regions. Some even viewed the move as a delay after its main rivals Microsoft, launched 2 Azure centers in South Africa.
Jan Hnizdo, Teraco CEO, expressed optimism on the impact of AWS services on local cloud service providers who will now have the ability to deliver better end-user experiences.
