Telkom subsidiary BCX has expanded its partnership with Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Cloud beyond local borders, launching Africa Local Public (ALP) Cloud services in Mozambique.

The companies say they want to improve the technological capabilities of Mozambican companies across the continent, with low latency and high efficiency.

The service was officially launched locally in October, coming from two availability zones based in Johannesburg: BCX's data center based in Midrand and Teraco Data Environment's data center based in Isando.

This, after the organizations signed a distribution agreement in 2022 to grant BCX the exclusive right and authority to distribute Alibaba Cloud's products and services in South Africa and the African markets where the IT services company is present.

Making the announcement at the Moztech Conference in Mozambique last week, BCX CEO Jonas Bogoshi said: "The collaboration between Alibaba Cloud and BCX allows us to bring the latest technologies through a local company that understands the complexities of companies operating on our continent.

"BCX differentiates itself from competitors by prioritizing a local approach. Recognizing the paramount importance of data sovereignty for Mozambican companies, BCX has installed its latest ALP Cloud in Maputo."

It is a digital transformation partner for companies and public sector organizations in all industries and sectors, with a presence in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, the United Kingdom and Zambia.

The next phase of ALP Cloud's implementation includes the creation of a data center based in Cape Town, with plans to further roll out the service to SMEs according to customer demand.

Jan Bouwer, Solutions Director at BCX, said: "We are committed to keeping data local within Africa's borders. ALP Cloud not only ensures data stays in Mozambique, addressing data sovereignty and compliance requirements, but also offers redundancy through neighboring availability zones and local on-the-ground support for customers."

ALP Cloud services are charged in the local currency, with Bogoshi explaining that this mitigates the challenge posed by the unpredictable exchange rate.

"By billing in local currency, BCX ensures cost predictability for African companies, facilitating the effective management of their cloud services expenses and mitigating the volatility of the foreign exchange market."