The services materialize the partnership agreement signed by the two companies in October 2022. After South Africa, they plan on entering countries like Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, and Zambia.

Last week, BCX, a subsidiary of telecoms operator Telkom, launched its cloud service, dubbed Africa Local Public (ALP), in partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Data will be stored in two centers in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg.

"This strategic initiative addresses the rising demand for secure, scalable, and high-performance cloud solutions that cater to the distinct requirements of South African businesses.[...] The launch of ALP cloud serves multiple purposes, one of which accentuates our dedication to maintaining a local presence. As a result, when our customers opt for BCX local cloud services, they will be directly connecting with and supported by a South African company,” explains Jonas Bogoshi, CEO of BCX.

Data centers, whose role is to process, secure, and store digital data, are of vital importance in the digital transformation process underway on the continent. They will enable African countries to acquire digital sovereignty, i.e. the ability to act in cyberspace and to ensure that their rules are respected by the various players in the virtual world. Africa accounts for barely 1% of the data centers installed worldwide and South Africa hosts more than half of them. 

The new partnership is part of South Africa's national data and cloud computing policy. Among other things, this policy aims to create an environment conducive to the development of the data ecosystem and to promote access to data and cloud services. BCX and Alibaba are also planning to build new centers in Cape Town (South Africa), Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia.

Adoni Conrad Quenum