Amazon Web Services (AWS) officially launched its Africa region in Cape Town this week, marking another positive advancement in the availability and development of African’s cloud infrastructure. The AWS region comprises of three availability zones that will enable African developers, enterprises, government organisations and a host of other industries, to build cloud applications and store their data locally, while reaching end-users across Africa with even lower latency.

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.

AWS Direct Connect is accessible via a direct cross-connect within Teraco through the Africa Cloud Exchange platform. This platform offers predictable, high performance, SLA based connections. The Africa Cloud Exchange is the ideal location to build cloud and on-premises hybrid architecture solutions enabling improved network performance, reduced costs and improved security.

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 says 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.”