AWS is helping to build South Africa’s next generation of cloud entrepreneurs through a specific business acceleration initiative designed to support black-owned technology businesses within the AWS Partner Network. Nomzamo Xaba and James Hickman visited the ITWeb studio to introduce the AWS Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP), a partnership effort aimed at supporting economic growth within the local tech sector.
Expanding the AWS footprint in South Africa
South Africa has long been part of the Amazon Web Services story. The foundational technology behind Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) was developed in Cape Town, where AWS established one of its first development centres. Today, that relationship continues to deepen, not just through infrastructure, but through direct investment in the people and businesses building the country’s cloud economy.
Since its launch in 2020, the AWS Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP) has been focused on accelerating the growth of small, black-owned technology businesses in the cloud market. Over the past six years, the programme has supported 47 cloud-native companies, giving them access to AWS certifications, AWS Partner Network status, technical training, business coaching and go-to-market planning.
Beyond financial backing and technical skills
The programme was designed to go beyond financial support. According to Nomzamo Xaba, principal programme manager for B-BBEE at AWS South Africa, the team worked backwards from what would create lasting economic impact.
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“When we designed the programme, we dove deep to determine what would work best for AWS, South Africa’s economy and the people of our country,” Xaba says. “Our commitment was not just to building businesses that will succeed, but to build businesses that also positively impact our communities.”
According to research by the University of the Western Cape, up to 80% of small and medium businesses fail in their first five years. The AWS EEIP is designed to address the full spectrum of challenges these businesses face – from funding to technical capability and go-to-market support.
The overall ethos of the programme focuses on building a well-rounded business. There are technical skills you can learn through an AWS training and certification programme. And then there are the softer skills: How do you approach a customer? How do you, as a small business, show up like a big business? You don’t have the resources or access to the same tools, but you’re expected to perform at that level. We help these businesses accelerate their journey rather than having to learn every step through trial and error, says Hickman.
The programme itself operates with the same iterative approach. AWS continuously refines the EEIP based on what participants need most.
“We took lessons from each cohort on what more we could do to set these businesses up for success,” Xaba says. “How do we help EEIP partners scale faster? How do we help them scale beyond South Africa? For example, through business coaching and go-to-market planning. You can build a great product, but if you don’t know how to take it to market, it won’t go anywhere,” she adds.
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Beyond business growth, the AWS EEIP is contributing to SA’s professional cloud workforce. Participating companies have helped people begin careers in deep technology, including achieving AWS Golden Jackets – globally recognised cloud professionals who simultaneously hold every generally available AWS certification.
Seeing those human stories is what tells me we’re doing the right thing, says Xaba. South Africans who turn around and change other people’s lives; that’s the impact we set out to create.
Video profiling of entrepreneurs
ITWeb TV Biz is now profiling several successful AWS EEIP partners through a series of video interviews. Over the coming weeks, viewers can hear directly from the entrepreneurs building the next generation of SA’s cloud economy. Real founders who started from scratch and are now serving customers locally and across the world as part of the AWS Partner Network.
The biggest learnings always come from real people and real stories, says Hickman. This series will show entrepreneurs that the journey they envision is possible.
