In a boost for Nigeria’s digital economy, Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon, recently announced the opening of a new office in Lagos, from which it will support the growing number of Nigerian businesses deploying AWS Services.
This move will bring AWS, which already supports a number of Nigerian startups such as SeamlessHR, Yellow Card, BFree, Bankly and public sector organisations, closer to African startups.
AWS, a cloud computing services provider, offers more than 200 different services for hosting, developing and managing applications. As a result, partner businesses are no longer limited by their physical computing capacity and can access various functions, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) tools from pretty much any computer.
For entrepreneurs who have an idea for a new digital product or service and once had to invest heavily in hardware to realize their visions, the barrier to entry has been dramatically lowered thanks to AWS and other cloud providers.
The arrival of a new AWS office in the country also gives Nigeria’s startup ecosystem access to a dedicated team of Amazon account managers and solutions architects who can assist them in making the most out of the services provided.
The new Lagos location will further act as an important counterpart to the network of AWS Outpost Racks in Nigeria and give Nigerian developers access to the deep expertise required to optimize service usage and deploy more complex virtual environments.
“We look forward to fostering the country’s pioneering spirit and helping our customers accelerate their digital transformation as they deliver innovative new products and services to the Nigerian community,” : said Amrote Abdella, Sub-Saharan Africa regional manager at AWS.
Already, AWS counts some of Nigeria’s fast-growing digital startups and businesses as clients. These include human resources (HR) software developer SeamlessHR and pan-African crypto exchange platform Yellow Card.