SOUTH AFRICA – Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs, has announced the launch of its African regional hub in Cape Town, South Africa.  

AWS Africa Region will offer low latency digital services and a broad range of technologies to players in various sectors, mainly government organizations. 

Peter DeSantis, vice president of AWS global infrastructure, said the company – which has a long history in South Africa and would like to continue supporting the growth of the local technology community – chose the country because builders, developers, contractors, and organizations asked for it. 

“Today, we are answering these requests by opening the Cape Town Region. We look forward to seeing the creativity and innovation that will result from African organizations building in the cloud,” he said. 

The AWS Africa region has 3 availability zones, like all other AWS regions. Each availability zone is made up of one or more data centers located in separate and distinct geographical areas with enough distance to significantly reduce the risk that a single event affects activity continuity. The zones are also close enough to provide low latency and guarantee high-availability applications. 

Each Availability Zone has independent power, cooling, and physical security systems and is connected via redundant, ultra-low-latency networking. With the launch of this African hub, AWS now spans 23 geographic regions across the world. The company wants to enter new markets, open four additional hubs in Indonesia, Italy, Japan, and Spain. 

AWS Direct Connect allows clients to connect to their AWS resources in an AWS region directly. Teraco has been an AWS Direct Connect partner since 2017 and AWS Direct Connect is available in Teraco’s Johannesburg and Cape Town data centre facilities. With over 250 network providers located at these facilities, AWS is within Africa’s reach. 

Teraco, says that AWS expanding its global footprint and the opening of AWS Africa in Cape Town is excellent news for the continent. Jan Hnizdo, Teraco CEO, says that AWS Africa’s presence will significantly impact Africa based enterprise and local cloud service providers enabling them to deliver better end-user experiences.

“Lower latency and increased resilience will enhance the overall user experience and AWS in Africa will assist in meeting clients’ data locality and sovereignty requirements.” 

Hnizdo said that Africa is fundamental to any global footprint, and also holds the promise of significant growth and immense user uptake over the next decade.

“Of significance is the role of the Internet and cloud deployments within Africa, and how improved access and affordability will assist sectors such as agriculture, communications, education, and financial services to prosper and grow,” he added. 

Teraco provides carrier and cloud neutral colocation data centres, and with over 14 500 cross-connects, is Africa’s most interconnected data centre hub. As the first provider of highly resilient, vendor neutral data environments in sub Saharan Africa, Teraco brings global content closer to the digital edge.