American multinational company Amazon Web Services (AWS) has opened its first international skills centre in Cape Town aimed at offering free cloud skills training to young people in the region.
According to Amazon, the Cape Town facility is the third of its kind, joining the Seattle and Arlington facilities in the US.
For the Westen Cape province, the move means critical investment in the local economy. As it stands, AWS Africa has already ploughed R15.6 billion into the region between 2018 and 2022, with plans to invest a further R30 billion until 2029.
Premier Alan Winde, in a statement on Thursday, highlights the educational and economic benefits of AWS Africa’s arrival in the country.
“We look forward to working with AWS to bring powerful training resources to the residents of South Africa. By investing in our people and their future, we are also investing in South Africa’s future and advancing our stature in the global economy.”
“The launch of this world-class skills centre comes at an opportune and crucial time, especially as we move forward to implement our recently launched Growth For Jobs Strategy – our ambitious plan to dramatically scale up and boost economic growth and job creation in the province, which fully embraces and incorporates skills development,” Winde adds.
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The facility will grant individuals access to cloud skills training as well as free foundational cloud training for those interested in cloud computing-related careers.
Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities Mireille Wenger further notes that the Amazon investment aligns with the provincial government’s economic plan, which places special focus on job creation.
“Two of the seven priority focus areas of Growth For Jobs speak directly to attracting investment and to ensuring that our residents are equipped with the skills they need to take advantage of job opportunities, both now and in the future.”
“The opening of this impressive skills centre by AWS is exactly the kind of investment and skills development programmes we are looking to attract to the province because investment generates economic growth, which then leads to job creation,” Wenger adds.
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