Google has launched a “cloud region” in Johannesburg, its first in Africa, as it chases its US rivals, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, in building data centre infrastructure in South Africa.

Although the data centre “region” has already been operational for more than a year, Google on Wednesday held an industry event in Johannesburg to showcase the investment to customers and partners.

The event came two weeks after Microsoft vice chairman and president Brad Smith shared a stage with President Cyril Ramaphosa in Johannesburg to announce that the software giant would invest a further R5.4-billion in new data centre infrastructure in the country, including facilities for cloud-based artificial intelligence applications.

Microsoft said it has already spent R20.4-billion on its Azure data centres in South Africa – excluding its latest investment commitment. Amazon has also spent billions of rand on building data centres in Cape Town to service AWS customers in the region.

Google hasn’t said exactly how much it has spent on its Joburg facilities, but the investment forms part of its pledge to invest US$1-billion across Africa, which includes investments in new terrestrial and subsea fibre infrastructure, including construction of a submarine cable system between South Africa and the west coast of Australia.

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“Operational since January 2024, the Johannesburg cloud region directly supports African businesses and multinational corporations operating on the African continent by providing access to cutting-edge technologies,” Google said in a statement. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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