Google has announced that its first cloud region in Africa is now open for business. The new region, located in Cape Town, South Africa, will offer customers faster and more reliable access to Google Cloud services and products.
The Cape Town cloud region is the 24th Google Cloud region globally and the first one on the African continent. It consists of three availability zones, which are geographically separate locations within the region that are designed to provide high levels of reliability and redundancy. Customers can distribute their workloads across multiple zones to protect against service disruptions.
Google Cloud provides a range of services for businesses of all sizes and industries, including infrastructure, platform, and software as a service (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS). Some of the popular Google Cloud products include Compute Engine, App Engine, Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Cloud Functions, and Cloud Run. Customers can also access advanced solutions for artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, and security.
According to Google, the Cape Town cloud region will benefit customers in several ways. First, it will improve latency for end users in Africa by up to 50% compared to the nearest region in Europe. Second, it will enable customers to store their data locally and comply with data sovereignty regulations. Third, it will support Google’s commitment to environmental sustainability by using renewable energy sources.
Some of the customers that are already using the Cape Town cloud region include Absa Group, a leading African financial services group; Travelstart, Africa’s largest online travel agency; and African e-commerce platform Jumia. These customers have reported improved performance, scalability, and cost-efficiency by leveraging Google Cloud.
Google also announced that it is expanding its Google Cloud Partner Advantage program in Africa to help local partners grow their cloud businesses. The program provides partners with technical guidance, sales support, marketing resources, and training opportunities. Google said it has already onboarded more than 100 partners in Africa, including system integrators, resellers, managed service providers, and independent software vendors.
The launch of the Cape Town cloud region is part of Google’s ongoing investment in Africa’s digital transformation. In addition to providing cloud services, Google is also supporting initiatives such as Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, Google.org grants for digital skills training, and Loon’s internet balloons project. Google said it is committed to helping African businesses and communities thrive in the digital era.
Can you believe it? It’s been 30 years since Microsoft opened its first office in Africa. That’s right, 30 years of empowering Africans with technology, innovation and skills. 30 years of making a difference in education, health, agriculture and more. 30 years of being part of the continent’s amazing journey.
But we’re not here to brag. We’re here to celebrate. And what better way to celebrate than with some fun facts about Microsoft in Africa? Here are some of the highlights from our three decades of presence and impact:
Did you know that Microsoft was the first global tech company to launch a datacenter region in Africa? That’s right, we beat Google and Amazon to it. And we didn’t stop there. We also launched the first cloud services from Africa, enabling businesses and organizations to access world-class technology and innovation locally.
Did you know that Microsoft has trained over 1.7 million young Africans in digital skills since 2013? That’s more than the population of Gambia. And we’re not done yet. We’re committed to reaching 4 million more by 2023, through our flagship programs like 4Afrika, YouthSpark and DigiGirlz.
Did you know that Microsoft has supported over 500 startups in Africa, helping them grow and scale their businesses? That’s more than the number of lions in Kenya. And we’re not just talking about funding. We’re talking about mentorship, technical support, access to markets and customers, and more.
Did you know that Microsoft has partnered with over 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Africa, helping them leverage technology for social good? That’s more than the number of countries in the world. And we’re not just talking about donations. We’re talking about co-creating solutions, sharing best practices, and empowering communities.
These are just some of the facts that make us proud of our work in Africa. But we know that we couldn’t have done it without you. You are the ones who inspire us, challenge us, and collaborate with us. You are the ones who make Africa what it is today: a vibrant, diverse, and dynamic continent.
So thank you for being part of our journey. Thank you for trusting us with your dreams and aspirations. Thank you for letting us be part of your story.
The Microsoft Africa Development Centre (ADC) and the Young African Leaders Initiative Regional Leadership Centre East Africa (YALI) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate to provide digital skills programs and solutions to young leaders in the region.
According to the MoU, the ADC will provide YALI participants with capacity-building opportunities in digital skills such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, access to its innovation hub at the Microsoft Garage and avail mentorship and training opportunities. YALI, for its part, will collaborate with Microsoft ADC to develop the digital skills programs and will avail training participants and its alumni for training and idea competitions. The YALI alumni will also seek to spread Microsoft’s digital literacy training to other youth.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Catherine Muraga, the ADC Managing Director, noted that the partnership is another step in the organisation’s mission to improve digital skilling for African youth.
“Partnerships are a vital part of our mission as Microsoft to empower everyone to do more. YALI provides essential skills to build a better future, and we are excited to contribute to improving digital skills among their participants. Preparing young leaders with the knowledge to excel within an increasingly digital-first landscape is a great way to set the continent up for success within the global economy,” said Muraga.
Housed at the Kenyatta University for the East Africa region, YALI participants will benefit from skills-building programs co-created by ADC with the intention of improving their digital capabilities as part of their training to add more excellent value to society through sustainably impacting both public and private sector.
Prof. Paul Wainaina, the Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor, said: “The engagement between the Young African Leaders Initiative and the ADC is an opportunity to grow the digital skills of our trainees while augmenting the vision and goals of both YALI and the ADC. It is also a great opportunity to engage in designing training modules for our program’s current and future participants.”
The Africa Development Centre, Microsoft’s premier engineering arm in Africa, is already implementing various projects to improve digital skills, including the recently concluded Game of Learners university coding competition and several other initiatives from the elementary school level into the workplace.
“Our digital skilling efforts align with YALI’s vision of providing access to all emerging leaders regardless of socio-economic status. We are actively investing in creating and fulfilling opportunities for all Africans in the drive towards continental digital transformation,” added Muraga.
Microsoft signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Texas A&M University, Qatar, to empower its engineering students with future-ready skills. The partnership with the Qatar Foundation partner university will provide students with the tools and experiences necessary to drive innovation and succeed in the workforce. As part of the agreement, the university will leverage Microsoft tools and platforms to achieve their common goal.
Texas A&M will pilot activities such as the Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Community and Microsoft Azure for Students in the 2021-2022 academic year. Microsoft Learn provides self-paced, digital learning resources to build skills and a foundational understanding of technology. Microsoft Learn will complement classroom learning and study materials. Students will get to join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Community which will help students learn and lead. By giving them access to free tools, events and activities and unlocking exclusive benefits through learning. Through Microsoft Azure for Students, students will gain hands-on experience with Microsoft technologies to start building apps, explore artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.
The faculty and teaching staff at Texas A&M University, Qatar, will also have access to Azure Development Tools for teaching. This will give them access to tools commonly used in STEM programs. It will also give them the opportunity to participate in the Microsoft Learn for Educators Institution Program, which gives eligible educators access to additional teaching and learning benefits.
“Texas A&M is proud to partner with Microsoft as we work together to educate engineering leaders in Qatar. We are grateful to share this vision with Microsoft and we look forward to the future successes of this partnership. Especially of our graduates says Dr. César Octavio Malavé, Dean Texas A&M.
Our partnership with Texas A&M at Qatar comes in line with our commitment to provide higher education institutions in Qatar with the resources and tools needed to build the next-generation workforce that will accelerate the country’s transition into a knowledge-based economy and innovation hub.
Lana Khalaf, country manager of Microsoft Qatar
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Four hundred thousand people in South Africa have participated in the Microsoft Global Skills initiative. A Digital skills initiative that seeks to help participants gain in-demand skills to become employable. This shows an increase from the three hundred thousand shared in March this year.
Lillian Barnard, Managing Director, Microsoft South Africa details this at the launch event of the Nedbank DigiSkills online platform. Another strategic partnership with a private sector organization to extend the reach of digital skills to more South Africans.
Extending access to these learning paths, skills and tools come at a critical time for South Africa, says Lillian Barnard. Noting a declining economy and unemployment remain a mounting and widespread challenge in the country.
Even though the skills program has exceeded its initial goal of reaching 25 million learners, only over a million of those come from Africa. With South Africa having the most participants. Microsoft mentioned partnering with other organizations and governments as one of the many ways to change this. And offering additional funding and services where necessary.
These partnerships have been fundamental to scale programmes that help more people gain the critical future skills needed in the digital economy. We are committed to collaborating with partners such as Nedbank and Afrika Tikkun to provide the training, tools and platforms to boost employability and economic growth.
Lillian Barnard
Lillian believes digital skills are the most effective way to drive economic recovery in South Africa. Noting it is a priority for Microsoft to create opportunities that will enable and empower unemployed South Africans. Microsoft has provided $150000 in grants to the youth development NPO to extend the reach of the Microsoft Skills Initiative programme in South Africa.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
