Alibaba Cloud has expanded its footprint in South Africa with the launch of its Edge Node Service (ENS), an edge cloud platform designed to deliver high performance, low latency, and secure data compliance for local businesses.
The service deploys computing, storage, and networking capabilities inside ISP data centers, closer to end users. This enables industries such as e-commerce, gaming, video, finance, and manufacturing to benefit from faster global reach, reduced cross-border bandwidth costs, and compliance-ready cloud innovation.
“Africa is on the brink of a powerful digital leap forward and with the combination of cloud and AI, we have the opportunity to shape that future together,” said Eric Wan, Vice President of International Business and General Manager of the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “We are dedicated to working closely with local partners including telecoms, independent software vendors, system integrators and tech start-ups to deliver solutions tailored for the local market, as well as addressing Africa-specific challenges like connectivity gaps, logistics optimisation and inclusive financial services.”
Wan added that AI remains a key driver of Alibaba Cloud’s innovation and market growth. “By leveraging our secure and advanced cloud and AI infrastructure, which is the future of digital infrastructure, we are committed to driving business growth and innovation by supporting more local customers along their digitalisation journey in South Africa,” he said.
Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of the Alibaba Group, operates in more than 200 countries with 89 availability zones and over five million enterprise customers. It entered the South African market in 2022 through a partnership with BCX and has since expanded its partner ecosystem, supporting digital transformation projects across telecoms, banking, retail, logistics, and manufacturing, alongside initiatives in AI, big data, and e-commerce.
The launch of ENS in South Africa underscores Alibaba Cloud’s commitment to building digital infrastructure in partnership with the public and private sectors, accelerating cloud adoption, and strengthening collaborations with local partners.
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