Amazon is bringing its AWS Local Zone Cloud Infrastructure to the country. Located in Nairobi, the AWS Local Zone joins 16 existing AWS Local Zones in the United States and is slated to launch an additional 32 AWS Local Zones in 26 countries around the world from 2022.
According to Amazon, the new AWS Local Zone delivers millisecond latency performance at the edge of the cloud.
AWS operates and supports Local Zones, meaning customers in Kenya don’t have to go through the cost and hassle of purchasing, operating and maintaining infrastructure in Nairobi to support low-latency applications. With AWS Local Zones, customers with local data residency requirements in Kenya can also run parts of their applications in on-premises data centers and connect seamlessly to AWS, while ensuring ultra-low latency for these types of hybrid deployments, all while using familiar AWS APIs and tools.
The new AWS Local Zones will enable customers in Kenya to provide end-users with single-digit millisecond performance designed for applications such as real-time remote gaming, media and entertainment content creation, live video streaming, engineering simulations, augmented and virtual reality , machine learning inference at the edge, and more.
Customers can connect to AWS Local Zones via an Internet connection or use AWS Direct Connect – a cloud service that links an organization’s network directly to AWS to deliver consistent, secure, low-latency performance – to route traffic over a private AWS network connection .
“The new AWS Local Zone in Kenya continues our investment to support customers of all kinds and our commitment to accelerate innovation by bringing cloud infrastructure to more locations across the country. We know that delivering ultra-low latency applications for a seamless user experience is important in every business and industry, so we are excited to bring the edge of the cloud closer to more customers in Kenya to meet their demands.” says Robin Njiru, Regional Lead, East, West and Central Africa at Amazon Web Services.
“AWS Local Zones will empower more public and private organizations, innovative startups and AWS partners to deliver a new generation of industry-leading, low-latency applications to end users. Customers can take advantage of the cost savings, scalability and high availability that AWS offers,” he added.
“We are excited to launch AWS Local Zone in Kenya. This announcement reaffirms the position of our country as an attractive place to invest, made possible by a large number of local talented developers,” said Mr Joseph Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs.
“It will drive the adoption of advanced cloud-based technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and Internet of Things while helping to ensure safe use in Kenya’s technology sector,” he continued.
“We believe an AWS Local Zone will enable us to further enhance our cloud offering, especially for our Enterprise and SMB customers, and migrate more of our own services to the Cloud,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom PLC , a local Amazon web services partner.
“Customer obsession remains a key focus for Safaricom and with this local presence, powered by our partnership with Amazon, we will now achieve greater speed, stability, reliability and storage to support innovation and development of forward-looking solutions,” he concluded. .
