American e-commerce company Amazon announced it is establishing a unit of its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services, in Kenya next year. The company said it is seeking to offer businesses the full range of Internet benefits, including computer, networking and cybersecurity services.

Following a meeting with the Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, on November 8, 2019, Teresa Carlson, AWS Vice President for Global Public Sector, said Amazon wants to meet the needs of all those who express an interest in their services. “Innovative Kenyan start-ups, enterprises and public sector customers are adopting AWS at a rapid pace and we look forward to continuing to support this growth. This reflects our ongoing commitment to Sub-Saharan Africa, with Kenya serving as a key hub in the East African region,” Teresa Carlson said.

For Uhuru Kenyatta, the arrival of AWS will support government efforts to provide business opportunities and create jobs in the digital field. “Kenya is an innovator in digital financial services in Africa. Having advanced cloud infrastructure in the country will support our ability to flourish as a nation and reach our potential as one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital economies,” he said.

Amazon will also deploy AWS in Cape Town, South Africa, next year. The expansion will allow more African organizations to take advantage of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, automatic learning and the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile services and more to stimulate innovation, the American company believes.