AWS unveils $5.3bn investment to advance Saudi Arabia’s cloud infrastructure

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced on Monday that it will invest more than $5.3bn (SAR19.88bn) in Saudi Arabia to launch a new infrastructure region by 2026, amid growing demand for cloud services in the kingdom.

The new AWS Region will allow developers, startups, entrepreneurs, and enterprises, as well as healthcare firms, education, gaming, and nonprofit organisations, to serve customers from data centres located within the kingdom.

“The new region will enable organisations to unlock the full potential of the cloud and build with technologies like compute, storage, databases, analytics, and artificial intelligence, transforming the way businesses and institutions serve their customers,” said Prasad Kalyanaraman, vice president of Infrastructure Services at AWS.

Kalyanaraman said the investment supports Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation and it will support the growing demand for cloud services in the Middle East.

The new region will consist of three Availability Zones at launch, adding to the existing 105 zones across 33 geographic regions globally.

AWS counts Abdul Latif Jameel, Almarai, Almosafer, Al Naghi Group, Jahez, Mobily, Red Sea Global, Saudi Telecom Group and Seera Holding Group among its customers in Saudi Arabia.

AWS boosts Saudi Arabia cloud adoption

AWS said it will continue to scale its training programs in Saudi Arabia to accelerate cloud adoption in the kingdom.

The cloud computing firm said it will launch a new upskilling programme ‘AWS Saudi Arabia Women’s Skills Initiative’ to train as many as 4,000 women on AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials, at no charge.

“This initiative is designed to help women jumpstart a career in cloud computing,” AWS said in a statement.

The company will continue to invest in upskilling students, local developers and technical professionals in the kingdom through different offerings including AWS Academy, AWS Educate, AWS re/Start, and AWS Skill Builder.

It will also establish two innovation centres and provide startups in the MENA region with technical mentorship and training on AWS technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Furthermore, AWS will also make grants available to fund graduate student research and provide free AWS Skill Builder subscriptions for up to 4,000 individuals working for small and medium enterprises established in Saudi Arabia.

Read: Jonathan Allen on how AWS is supporting MENA’s cloud journey