Google’s official launch of its Africa cloud region will take place in March, highlighting opportunities for partners and customers across Southern Africa.

Gregory MacLennan, CEO of Digicloud Africa, Google’s chosen reseller enablement partner in Africa, says customer demand and the Digicloud reseller network have grown strongly since 2022, when Google first announced plans to open a Johannesburg cloud region. He notes a trend whereby customers across Africa are a key force driving resellers to join the Digicloud partner network – which he expects to accelerate with the official launch of the Africa cloud region.

The new local region is part of Google’s commitment to invest US$1-billion in digital development in Africa, he says.

“With the local data centre in Johannesburg, heavily regulated institutions like banks who are obliged to have information held in-country can do AI and machine learning projects in the region. The Africa region availability also addresses concerns for businesses where low latency is a priority,” MacLennan says.

He says the Google Africa data centre offers solutions carefully selected to address top local priorities. “For example, it has BigQuery, which is the single biggest market need, and most of the services that have been included are centred on data. Google is a leader in data and analytics and has made massive investments on the AI front.

“Given that data analytics, machine learning and generative AI are what everyone’s talking about in markets across Africa, Google is launching at the right time to ensure that customers who want to build out their AI models using Google’s advanced technology are able to do that in the South African data centre.”

Ecosystem of partners

He adds: “From a customer perspective, there is also the benefit of access to a fast-growing ecosystem of partners. Digicloud now has 86 partners in South Africa and 160 partners in total across Africa that are able to help their businesses with data, AI, Google Workspace and infrastructure. In just two years, the ecosystem has grown massively, and it is still growing. We’re actively enabling partners across the continent.”

“As a customer, if you want to move to Google Cloud, now’s the time. And if you’re a reseller specialising in AI or data analytics, now’s the time to sign up with Digicloud to benefit from the support of the local Google team and offer Google Cloud services to your customers on a market-leading platform within a local region.”

Ahead of the official launch on 19 March, Digicloud is set to launch campaigns to raise awareness of the local region, its benefits, and new opportunities for partners and customers.

About Digicloud Africa
Digicloud Africa is Google’s chosen enablement partner in Africa. Through Digicloud, Google is creating an ecosystem of Google Cloud partners across the continent. Digicloud supports its partner network by providing the necessary training, tools and resources needed to implement cloud solutions and support to its customers successfully. As customer demands for technology intensify, Digicloud is increasing its investment in supporting its partners to achieve sustainable growth. Digicloud’s partner enablement helps organisations build skills around open, advanced technologies to go to market with outcome-based solutions. Find Digicloud Africa on LinkedIn.