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Amazon Web Services (AWS), a multinational cloud computing service provider linked to U.S. billionaire Jeff Bezos, has announced the launch of a new AWS Local Zones location in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
AWS is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., a leading technology company founded by the world’s third-richest man, Jeff Bezos, and focused on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
The move, which comes nearly three months after the company opened its first office in Lagos as part of its global expansion and commitment to Africa, is a clear indication of the growing importance of the African market for technology companies.
The launch of new local zones in Lagos places AWS services near densely populated areas, industries, and IT hubs. Customers will be able to deploy applications to end users or on-premises data centers that require single-digit millisecond latency.
Customers in the Lagos metro area will now be able to easily deploy applications located close to end users, achieving the low latency required for use cases such as online gaming, live-streaming, and augmented and virtual reality.
The new unit will also cater to the needs of customers operating in regulated sectors like healthcare, financial services, and the public sector that might have preferences or requirements to keep data within a geographic boundary.
“With today’s launch of a new AWS Local Zones location in Lagos, we are proud to bring the cloud closer to AWS customers, so they can deploy latency-sensitive workloads and meet local data residency requirements,” Robin Njiru, AWS regional public sector lead for West, East, and Central Africa, said. “We’ve designed Local Zones to support a broad range of use cases—from trading applications that need to respond quickly to market fluctuations to interactive live event and gaming experiences.”
AWS’s presence in Nigeria, according to Amrote Abdella, AWS’s regional manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, will foster the country’s pioneering spirit and assist customers in accelerating their digital transformation as they deliver innovative new products and services to the Nigerian community.
The new Lagos office, which highlights AWS’s commitment to Africa, makes Amazon the third U.S. technology behemoth with active operations in Nigeria, joining Microsoft and Google, which already have offices in the country. Jeff Bezos’ cloud computing business now has 32 AWS Local Zones around the world, with announced plans to launch 24 more Local Zones globally.
