Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) has today launched its first Amazon CloudFront edge location in Lagos, Nigeria. This was officially announced through a press release addressed to Technext, highlighting the significant value proposition it brings.

The introduction of this new AWS edge location provides users in Lagos with access to the comprehensive benefits offered by Amazon CloudFront, a highly secure content delivery network (CDN) that optimizes the delivery of data, video, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs) worldwide.

Speaking on this new launch, Amrote Abdella, General Manager of AWS Sub-Saharan Africa said:

Our existing customers, from startups to established commercial and public sector organizations, will benefit from faster content delivery and enhanced security. Companies looking to modernize their operations will find an easier on-ramp to the cloud through the new Amazon CloudFront edge location. Recognizing Nigeria’s role as a leading technology hub in Africa, we continue to invest in the country to meet our customers’ growing needs and help them accelerate their digital transformations.

With this new edge location, Nigerian Amazon CloudFront customers can enjoy enhanced performance, network security, and application-level protection as well as a reliable and high-performing connection to the broader AWS global network and AWS edge services, such as Amazon CloudFront, AWS Shield, and AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF).

Customers in Nigeria can now expect up to 30 percent improvement in latency for data delivered through the new edge location to provide end users with faster, more responsive applications. Customers can also create security rules to protect applications against common web exploits and bot attacks by enabling AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF).

The launch of local AWS infrastructure in Nigeria will help organizations in various industries,

including education, media and entertainment, healthcare, financial services, and e-commerce, innovate faster.

Speaking of its impact on the entertainment ecosystem, Idornigie Blessed, CEO at Ibaka Entertainment said,

We look forward to AWS extending its global network footprint into Nigeria with the new Amazon CloudFront edge location, which we expect will help us enable an enhanced entertainment experience for millions of our customers in the region.

The Amazon CloudFront integrates with AWS services including Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Elastic Load Balancing, and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) as origins for applications. There is also support for serverless code to be run close to ending users for customization with Lambda@Edge.

AWS Facilities and Amazon CloudFront Edge Locations in Africa

AWS, the leading provider of cloud computing services, boasts the most extensive global infrastructure presence among all providers. With the introduction of the Amazon CloudFront edge location, AWS’s expansive global infrastructure network spans more than 450 points of presence (POPs) and includes 13 regional edge caches across 90 cities in 50 countries including Nigeria.

Nigeria is not the first African country to join in this race. Over the years, AWS has further expanded its footprint on the continent. AWS announced its presence in Africa back in 2004 with the establishment of the Cape Town Development Center. This center has been instrumental in driving innovation in networking technologies, next-generation software for customer support, and Amazon EC2.

AWS opened and set up offices in Johannesburg in 2015 and Nigeria in 2022. In 2017, AWS Direct Connect, a cloud service solution enabling dedicated network connections from on-premises to AWS, extended its reach to Africa, with locations in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The subsequent years witnessed the launch of Amazon CloudFront edge locations in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, followed by an additional edge location in Nairobi, Kenya in 2020.

In 2020, the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region launched with three Availability Zones, while in January 2023, the first AWS Local Zones location launched in Lagos. This development serves to facilitate the delivery of distributed edge and hybrid cloud applications that necessitate ultra-low latency, specifically catering to end users in Nigeria.

These strategic investments in Africa reflect AWS’s unwavering dedication to enabling businesses and individuals in the region to leverage cutting-edge cloud computing capabilities, reinforcing its position as a trusted partner in the digital transformation journey.