Dimension Data’s Internet Solutions said on Tuesday that its CloudConnect international colocation connectivity solution will interconnect with Microsoft’s Azure data centres in South Africa when they go live in the coming months.

CloudConnect has been incorporated into Microsoft’s Azure ExpressRoute network, it said.

Azure ExpressRoute clients in Africa will link directly to the Microsoft Cloud — including Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 — hosted in the software giant’s local data centres.

This will significantly increase the performance of Internet Solutions customers using Microsoft’s cloud services in South Africa, said executive Gopal Govinder.

Govinder said average latency between South Africa and London is less than 180 milliseconds, whereas Internet Solutions’ terrestrial network latency is under 20ms.

The company plans to extend the service to wholesale clients in the rest of Africa, too. It will continue to connect clients to Microsoft’s expanded suite of products available through London and Amsterdam exchange points.

Microsoft plans to open the Azure data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town before mid-2018, after announcing plans to build them last year.

In November, data centre operator Teraco said it would be a Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute connectivity partner.