Google to Build Cloud Storage Infrastructure in South Africa 

-O. Adejo

Global technology giant Google  is to invest $1 billion in South Africa in order to build its first cloud infrastructure. Users will be able to store their data in-country as a result of this.

According to Nira Patel, Director of Google Cloud Africa, the main goal of this investment is to give customers and partners the option of where they want to store their data and where they want to consume their services.

Google’s investment in Africa will help to ease some of the strict data laws in African countries, which require some countries to store data within their borders. According to Bloomberg, phone companies in Nigeria, for example, are not permitted to send government or customer information outside of the country. They believe that storing and managing data will help to strengthen local businesses.

Google’s investment, on the other hand, is expected to bring in more than $2.1 billion to the South African economy and to create more than 40,000 jobs by 2030.

 Furthermore, Google is constructing subsea cable and cloud interconnect sites in four major African cities: Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Cape Town. The latest investment in Africa demonstrates that the continent is ready for investment, with companies such as Amazon and Starlink also making inroads.