Google’s Debut Africa Cloud Region Goes Live
One year after choosing Johannesburg as its first African location, Google announced today that its cloud region in South Africa is now active.
Cloud regions give users access to a variety of services, such as compute engines, cloud storage, and essential management systems, and enable them to deploy cloud resources from particular geographic locations or closer to consumers.
According to Google, the Johannesburg area will be crucial in supplying companies with the resources they “need to scale, innovate, and compete in the global marketplace.”
The announcement made today comes after Google announced in 2022 that it would be constructing Dedicated Cloud Interconnect sites in Nairobi, Kenya; Lagos, Nigeria; and Capetown, Johannesburg, South Africa; these sites will connect users’ on-premises networks with Google’s grid and offer full-scale cloud capabilities to its partners and customers in Africa. It promised to use Equiano, its now-completed private subsea cable that links Europe and Africa, to power the websites.
Johannesburg is linked to Google’s secure network, which consists of a global network of high-capacity fiber optic cables buried beneath the surface of the earth, just like all other Google Cloud areas. Director of Google Cloud Africa Niral Patel said in a statement today, “This includes the recently completed Equiano subsea cable system that connects Portugal with Togo, Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, and St. Helena.”
By 2030, the South African cloud region is predicted by AlphaBeta Economics research, which was commissioned by Google Cloud, to support the creation of over 40,000 jobs and add over $2.1 billion to the country’s GDP.
Furthermore, Patel stated in 2022 that, particularly in the context of data sovereignty, the cloud region would let its clients and partners decide where to store their data as well as which areas may access its cloud services.
Users’ choice over data storage is becoming more and more important as nations such as Kenya enact privacy and data laws mandating that businesses use locally hosted servers to store and process data acquired within their borders.
By 2030, the South African cloud region is predicted by AlphaBeta Economics research, which was commissioned by Google Cloud, to support the creation of over 40,000 jobs and add over $2.1 billion to the country’s GDP.
Furthermore, Patel stated in 2022 that, particularly in the context of data sovereignty, the cloud region would let its clients and partners decide where to store their data as well as which areas may access its cloud services.
Users’ choice over data storage is becoming more and more important as nations such as Kenya enact privacy and data laws mandating that businesses use locally hosted servers to store and process data acquired within their borders.
Google joins Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Oracle, and other companies operating cloud regions in South Africa. Google currently has a global network of 40 cloud regions and 106 zones worldwide.
