Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are set to launch AWS Wavelength Zones in Morocco and Senegal later this year, enabling secure local data processing and storage using AWS services within Orange’s network. This collaboration will support digital transformation efforts across various sectors, providing low-latency user experiences. Public and private sector organizations can leverage AWS Wavelength infrastructure for enhanced security, scalability, and reliability.
This marks the introduction of the first AWS Wavelength Zones in North and West Africa, accessible via both wireless and wireline connections. This setup allows customers to deploy and operate applications locally on AWS compute and storage in Orange data centers. These zones support use cases in high-trust, regulated industries requiring local data residency, such as telecom, finance, public sector, and healthcare, as well as industries dependent on low-latency applications like gaming. By extending AWS services locally, customers can seamlessly connect back to a full range of cloud services running in an AWS Region.
The demand for cloud services in Africa is robust, with Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service industries expected to grow by 18% annually, reaching $13 billion by 2028. McKinsey reports that cloud adoption in Africa is accelerating, with no signs of slowing down. The new AWS Wavelength Zones will help customers comply with local data hosting requirements and capitalize on cloud services.
Orange, a leading telecommunications operator with 298 million customers worldwide and a presence in 26 countries, including 18 in Africa and the Middle East, is an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner. Orange has a proven track record of supporting enterprises in their cloud journeys and will leverage the new infrastructure to foster cloud adoption in Africa. As an anchor customer, Orange will run some IT workloads locally, accelerating its digital transformation.
Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, stated, “The announcement of AWS Wavelength Zones for North & West Africa is a major achievement in our strategy to foster the cloud transformation of African businesses. We are providing the benefits of AWS to Moroccan and Senegalese organizations, from SMBs to MNCs, while ensuring data residency in secure Orange Datacenters in combination with our best-in-class connectivity solutions.”
This initiative represents a new AWS Wavelength Zone design, bringing AWS services to countries without an AWS Region or AWS Local Zone. Customers can deploy applications with low latency and enhanced data residency controls, addressing stringent regulatory, contractual, and security requirements. This will also boost local digital businesses and startups by encouraging innovation and providing easier access to cloud services and development tools.
Jan Hofmeyr, Vice President of EC2 Edge at AWS, commented, “The deployment of AWS Wavelength Zones in North and West Africa, in collaboration with Orange, will further empower customers in growing geographies with local AWS services. Customers of all sizes and industries in Morocco and Senegal will be able to access local AWS compute and storage for data residency, low latency, and security needs for applications across real-time gaming and regulated industries, helping customers unlock new innovation and accelerate digital transformation.”
AWS offers the most comprehensive and widely adopted cloud platform, providing more services and security expertise than any other provider. AWS Wavelength Zones will run a broad range of AWS services, including Amazon EC2, Amazon EBS, Amazon ECS, Amazon EKS, Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon EMR, and Elastic Load Balancing (ELB). Customers can use familiar AWS APIs, tools, and functionality to build their applications.
Swarmio, a telco-grade gaming technology provider, sees AWS Wavelength as transformative for the gaming landscape in Africa. Vijai Karthigesu, CEO and Founder of Swarmio, noted, “There is a dynamic and growing gamer community in Africa, including Morocco and Senegal, and we want to provide them with advanced gaming experiences but run into technical hurdles involving locally available cloud services. AWS Wavelength will help us transform the worldwide gaming landscape by combining the power of AWS with our Swarmio Edge platform to provide an unmatched, low-latency experience that allows creators to connect and delights global game publishers and developers.”
