Oracle this week announced the launch of Oracle Cloud Johannesburg Region, the first Oracle Cloud region for the African continent.

Johannesburg is the company’s 37’s global region to date. Oracle noted plans to have at least 44 regions open by the end of 2022.

Oracle emphasized Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s (OCI’s) suitability for regional business and government modernization and cloud migration efforts. Richard Smith, executive vice president, EMEA, Oracle said that Industry 4.0 efforts are accelerating in Africa.

“In recent months, cloud technologies have played a vital role in helping African public and private sector organisations ensure business continuity, deliver essential services, and meet evolving customer expectations,” said Smith.

Oracle positions OCI as an enterprise-friendlier cloud infrastructure than other hyperscalers. Oracle touts OCI’s price-performance and security. It also notes its suitability as a modern SaaS app development and delivery platform. Automatic scalability and optimal suitability for enterprise hybrid cloud strategies are other key features.

In a blog announcing the new region, Oracle emphasized its compliance obligations to South Africa. The company noted how it supports local data privacy requirements, meets South African Reserve Bank (SARB) regulatory requirements, and empowers equal opportunity.

Oracle operates a total of 37 cloud regions, with data centers located in 20 countries around the globe. Oracle’s highest concentration is in North America and Europe. Oracle said it will open seven additional cloud regions in 2022. New regions are coming to Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, France, Israel and Saudi Arabia before the end of the year.

Oracle counted a number of high-profile early adopters in the announcement including international airports owner and manager Airports Company South Africa, Accenture Africa and the South Africa Government Pensions Administrative Agency (GPAA). They also included regional telco operator Telkom.

Oracle, Telkom and telecom
Oracle’s new Johannesburg Central region is a boost to information infrastructure throughout South Africa and the wider continent, said Reubin Layman, CIO, Openserve, Telkom SA.

The objective: to “help organisations kick-start their digital transformation journeys,” said Layman.

Last October, Telefonica tapped Oracle for a multiyear partnership for managed cloud services. Oracle said the migration to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure will accelerate Telefonica’s plans to roll out new 5G services.

In September, Oracle and BT announced a collaboration that brings Oracle Communications technology and consulting to the British telco as it prepares for new 5G services for market.

Oracle is also playing an important role in Dish’s greenfield 5G network design. Dish selected Oracle to enable a Service-Based Architecture (SBA) for its 5G core. Dish Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne called Oracle the “control tower of our network core.”