CONNECTIVITY

First Google Cloud region on the African continent is announced

By our News Team | 2022

Google says it intends to scale up Cloud capability for Africa through sites in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.

Google has confirmed that it intends to establish a cloud region in South Africa, its first in the continent, in an effort to assist users to move their information and tools online.

The company made the announcement during its second Google for Africa event. It is in line with the commitment made by Google last year to deliver a US$1-billion investment in the continent.

Photo by Cottonbro from Pexels

Director of Google Cloud Africa, Niral Patel, said: “We are excited to announce the first Google Cloud region in Africa. The new region will allow for the localisation of applications and services.”

Patel said the firm would expand its network through the Equiano subsea cable and build dedicated Cloud Interconnect sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Lagos and Nairobi to scale up Cloud capability for Africa.

The cable, which has nine branching points, was initially announced in 2019 and is one of Google’s largest submarine Internet cables. It connects Western Europe to South Africa.

Data prices predicted to drop by as much as 21 percent

Equiano will lead to the creation of 1.6-million jobs, per a report commissioned by Google. The report also predicts that the cable will lead to data prices dropping between 16 and 21 percent in the region.

“We believe in growing an open and healthy ecosystem of technology solutions to support Africa’s digital transformation goals, which leads to more opportunities for businesses. It is part of our company-wide ethos to respect the environment, which is why we operate the cleanest Cloud in the industry, supporting sustainable digital transformation,” said Patel.

Added Philly Mapulane South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies: “Our National Development Plan 2030 calls for stimulating growth in the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector and innovation by driving public and private ICT investment, especially in network upgrades and expansion. Google’s recent efforts in this regard have been particularly encouraging.”

According to the tech industry website Data Center Dynamics, Google is playing catch-up with other cloud providers, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, with both players entering the continent in the last few years.

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