Absa Group announced a strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Monday to expedite its cloud migration process as part of its ongoing digital transformation.
This partnership is a significant turning point in Absa’s digital transformation strategy, which aims to provide more customer-focused, secure, and agile financial services.
Since 2015, Absa and AWS have developed a strategic partnership to boost innovation and digital transformation in South Africa.
This development strengthens Absa’s position as a cloud-native, digitally enabled bank that offers more nimble, secure, and individualised customer service.
AWS to be Absa’s go-to cloud provider
AWS will be Absa’s go-to cloud provider, improving the bank’s technological agility and ensuring it stays responsive to its clients’ changing demands for seamless, digital experiences.
Absa hopes to leverage the entire range of AWS services to deliver innovative, safe, and customer-focused solutions throughout its markets, accelerate digital transformation, and harness emerging technologies.
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’s 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.”
Partnership to enhance inclusive growth
Beyond technology, collaboration will continue to promote inclusive growth by investing in the community and developing digital skills.
Absa has a longstanding partnership with the Women in Tech initiative, which works with AWS to close the gender gap in technology careers throughout the continent. This is the third year in a row that Absa and the AWS Skills Centre have partnered with the Women in Tech South Africa chapter.
The expanded program will include 150 jobless women from South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Uganda, and Ghana. They will receive free AWS Cloud training and a $100 exam fee sponsored by Absa to earn their AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification.
“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,” added Idesoh.
AWS’s commitment to support Absa’s technological transformation
AWS expresses its commitment to supporting Absa’s technological transformation and developing a skilled workforce through its extensive training programs and AI solutions.
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 concludes, “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.”