Absa Group has entered into a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to speed up its migration to the cloud as part of its ongoing digital transformation in South Africa. The collaboration builds on a relationship that began in 2015 and aims to help Absa deliver more agile, secure, and customer-focused financial services.
Under this agreement, AWS will be Absa’s preferred cloud provider. This move is intended to increase the bank’s technological agility and ensure it can respond quickly to changing customer needs for digital banking experiences. By using AWS services, Absa seeks to take advantage of new technologies and accelerate its digital transformation across its markets.
Johnson Idesoh, Group Chief Information and Technology Officer at Absa, said, “This partnership reflects our ambition to be a digitally powered financial institution that delivers exceptional value to our customers. We are excited to leverage AWS’ industry-leading banking and finance expertise for our digital transformation. Moving additional services to AWS will modernise our infrastructure, enable us to innovate faster, strengthen our resilience, enhance security, and offer more personalised, intuitive customer experiences.”
The partnership also includes efforts beyond technology. Absa and AWS continue their work with the Women in Tech initiative to support digital skills development and community investment across Africa. For the third year running, the Women in Tech South Africa chapter is partnering with Absa and the AWS Skills Centre. The expanded program will provide 150 unemployed women from several African countries with free AWS Cloud training and an exam fee sponsored by Absa for AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification.
Idesoh added, “Our partnership with AWS goes beyond technology; it’s about driving continuous transformation. Together, we are investing in people, communities, and the future of inclusive digital economies across Africa. Choosing a cloud provider with a data centre on the continent is a deliberate decision to support investment in local communities. It’s also a step in our AI transformation journey as a financial services provider, by enabling smarter decision-making, hyper-personalised customer experiences, and greater operational efficiency—driving innovation while enhancing trust, speed, and scale.”
Tanuja Randery, Vice President of Sales for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at AWS said: “We are excited to deepen our collaboration with Absa Group. This partnership exemplifies our shared commitment to driving innovation through cloud technology while building digital capabilities and equitable access to learning across Africa. Through our comprehensive training programmes and AI solutions, we’re supporting Absa’s technical transformation and helping to create a skilled workforce that supports the population as it embraces the digital future. The success we’ve seen with initiatives like Women in Tech demonstrates the powerful impact of combining cloud technology with skills development. We look forward to continuing our work with Absa to accelerate its cloud adoption and foster inclusive growth across the continent.”
Idesoh concluded: “With a customer-obsessed mindset, we are committed to enabling SMEs, retail clients, and corporate partners by leveraging the benefits of scale and innovation ecosystems to meet their unique needs across Africa.”
AWS has been expanding its global infrastructure since 2006. It now offers over 240 fully featured services for various computing needs from 117 Availability Zones within 37 geographic regions worldwide (https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/). The company plans further expansion into Chile, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and Europe.
Absa Group is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It operates banks in several African countries including Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa (https://www.absa.africa/absaafrica/about-us/our-footprint/), Tanzania (with both Absa Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia.
For more information about Absa Group Limited or Amazon Web Services visit their respective websites.
