- Oracle announces plans to establish a public cloud region in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of its global cloud infrastructure expansion.
- The new cloud region in Nairobi leverages Kenya’s renewable energy and robust digital infrastructure, including extensive submarine and national connectivity.
- Oracle’s initiative is expected to have a broader societal impact, with potential benefits for education, job creation, and overall economic growth in Kenya.
Oracle has announced its intention to establish a public cloud region in Nairobi, Kenya. The is part of Oracle’s wider strategy to expand its global cloud infrastructure in Africa.
The announcement comes after a meeting between an Oracle delegation led by Scott Twaddle, Senior Vice President responsible for OCI Product and Industries, and Kenyan Government officials, including President William Ruto, President of Kenya, and Eliud Owalo, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy in Kenya.
Oracle’s decision to base the new cloud region in Nairobi is set to capitalize on the country’s renewable energy sources and robust digital infrastructure, including extensive submarine and national connectivity. Kenya will be the second country in Africa to benefit from Oracle’s cloud services after South Africa.
What is a public Cloud Region
A public cloud region is a geographical area where a cloud service provider (Oracle in this case) has established and operates data centers. The data centers have the infrastructure required for cloud computing. A public cloud region can have multiple availability zones or data centers. The availability zones are interconnected to ensure high availability, redundancy and for fault tolerance. Customers can deploy and run their applications and services in public cloud regions that meet their requirements and needs.
What They Said:
“We are delighted to see Oracle planning such an important investment in Kenya,” said President William Ruto. “I am excited to see major technology companies like Oracle investing in Kenya and bringing state of the art technologies like AI and cloud applications that will benefit Kenyan citizens, especially in creation of jobs.”
“Oracle’s intent to open a public cloud region in Nairobi will be a key component of Kenya’s Bottom up Economic Transformation Agenda initiative, which is focused on digital transformation, private sector development, agricultural transformation, housing development, and healthcare modernization,” said Eliud Owalo, cabinet secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, Kenya.
“We are delighted to extend our commitment to helping Kenya accelerate the digital transformation of its government and private sector,” said Scott Twaddle, senior vice president, Product and Industries, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. “OCI is leveraged by governments and companies across the world as a scalable and secure platform for mission-critical workloads on which to drive innovation and transformation. We already have a strong business in Kenya, and the upcoming public cloud region in Nairobi represents a significant next step forward in helping support the country’s economic goals.”
“Cloud infrastructure means more people can access education, opportunities, and unleash the business potential that without technology could not happen at scale or at speed,” said Rishon Chimboza, managing director for Africa, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI). “TBI will continue to support the Kenyan government and Oracle to put into action an approach that accelerates the ambitions and demands of Kenyans today.”
Read: Why businesses in Kenya need to adopt a cloud mindset
