Another US technology giant sets sights on Kenya with a local office
President Uhuru Kenyatta meets Amazon Web Services (AWS) vice-president Teresa Carlson at State House, Nairobi, yesterday. With them is ICT CS Joe Mucheru. PHOTO | PSCU
What you need to know:
- Kenya is the latest country to be connected to the AWS global infrastructure network of 200 Points of Presence in 77 cities across 37 countries.
American technology giant Amazon.com has announced that its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), will set up office early next year in Nairobi to offer the East African cloud market low latency and higher speeds.
In a statement, the tech giant said it seeks to introduce the full suite of internet benefits that include computing, networking and cybersecurity services.
“Amazon CloudFront is a highly secure and programmable Content Delivery Network (CDN) that will accelerate the delivery of data, videos, applications and APIs to users worldwide, with low data transfer delay and higher speeds in East Africa,” the statement reads.
GOOGLE KENYA
The US company will seek to dethrone already existing cloud service providers such as Google Kenya, Microsoft, Safaricom, MTN, Internet Solutions and East African Data Handlers through “easy and cost-effective way to deliver content to end users with improved performance, security and availability”.
Customers across East Africa can expect up to 50 per cent reduction in latency — the delay in transfer of data — for delivery of their content with the new Edge location.
AWS’s vice-president for the worldwide public sector Teresa Carlson, who met President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday, said the company founded by Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, is thrilled to continue to support customers of all preferences.
“Innovative Kenyan start-ups, enterprises and public sector customers are adopting AWS at a rapid pace and we look forward to continuing to support this growth. This reflects our ongoing commitment to Sub-Saharan Africa, with Kenya serving as a key hub in the East African region,” she said.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Kenya is the latest country to be connected to the AWS global infrastructure network of 200 Points of Presence in 77 cities across 37 countries. “Kenya is an innovator in digital financial services in Africa. Having advanced cloud infrastructure in the country, AWS will support our ability to flourish as a nation and reach our potential as Africa’s fast-growing digital-economy,” said the President.
George Njuguna, Safaricom’s chief information officer, said the firm welcomes the launch of the new Edge service as this will reduce latency and improve performance of web and mobile applications.
