Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched its first office in Lagos Nigeria, an expansion needed to accommodate its growing customer-base in Africa’s most populated country.
The launch, which took place on Tuesday, follows growing calls by the federal government of Nigeria for multinational companies to open offices in the country.
Nigerian companies, made up of many startups using cloud services, have become a huge part of AWS growth. The company said the office has become necessary to offer support for the growing number of customers and partners.
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“The office will support organizations of all sizes, including startups, enterprises, and public sector agencies as they make the transition to AWS Cloud,” the company said in a statement.
The idea of setting up a local office is to support new and existing customers in the information technology (IT) sector, who depend on AWS products and services, as it will lower the cost of cloud services for them.
Regional Manager of Sub-Saharan Africa at AWS, Amrote Abdella said the move will help to accelerate Nigeria’s push for digital transformation.
“We are excited to open our first AWS office in Nigeria. Lagos offers a highly skilled and creative talent pool, and the area is home to many fast-growing startups and notable Nigerian enterprises leading the way in digital innovation.
“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,” Abdella said.
Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017–2020 (ERGP) laid emphasis on the need for a digital-led strategy to make the Nigerian economy more competitive globally in line with 21st century economic best practices.
In its 2019 Nigeria Digital Economy Diagnostic report, the World Bank noted that Nigeria needs improvements in digital connectivity, digital skills, digital financial services and other core areas of digital development. These, it said would help the country to fully unleash new economic opportunities, create jobs and transform people’s lives.
The report provided its assessment around five key foundational elements of a digital economy – digital infrastructure, digital platforms, digital financial services, digital entrepreneurship and digital skills.
While Nigeria is said to be well positioned for a digital economy, the World Bank said “Nigeria is capturing only a fraction of its digital economic potential and will need to make strategic investments to develop a dynamic, transformative digital economy.”
AWS’ move to open an office in Lagos falls in line with the recommendations. Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim said it will support development plans already put in place for the country’s digital economy.
“The Service Infrastructure Pillar of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) emphasizes the importance of digital platforms in the development of a robust digital economy.
“The programs of Amazon Web Services support the development of such platforms and we look forward to partnering with AWS to accelerate the implementation of NDEPS,” he said.