Africa Data Centres Invest R3 Billion In Building Data Centres In Kenya

Africa Data Centres is investing $200 million or R3 billion in building data centres in Nairobi, Kenya. The company is owned by Liquid Intelligent Technologies, which is held by Econet Group and controlled by billionaire and philanthropist Strive Mayiwa.

The company has begun development of a second data centre of up to 20MW of IT load and is securing land for a third facility. This $200+M investment will double the country’s data centre capacity and serve the development of Kenya as a key digital hub, allowing Kenyan data to stay in Kenya by providing the reliable digital infrastructure it needs.

“Africa Data Centres currently has the leading carrier-neutral data centre in Nairobi and East Africa as a whole,” says Stephane Duproz, CEO of Africa Data Centres.

“We have the most dynamic ecosystem, in terms the largest number of connectivity providers on site in the region, as well as the strongest leadership in the enterprise sector and financial services in particular,” he adds.

The announcement follows hot on the heels of the company’s announcement that it is embarking on the greatest-ever data centre expansion plan the continent has ever seen.

In September, Africa Data Centres announced that it plans to build a total of ten interconnected, cloud- and carrier-neutral data centres across the length and breadth of Africa in an unprecedented $500m investment in the continent’s digital transformation.  “The expansion will more than double our already significant footprint on the continent,” he says.

Duproz says the two new Kenya facilities are part of this expansion. “Kenya is one of the top data centre markets in Africa and is widely viewed as the gateway to the East African region. There has been a dramatic increase in the adoption of digital services, and the move from on-premises to colocation and managed facilities, will be at the vanguard of data centre development in the years to come.”

As the unquestioned leader in the data centre space in Africa, Duproz says Africa Data Centres is committed to uplifting the region by providing world-class access to data centres and networks, ushering in the age of hyper-scale to East Africa, to enable established businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive in today’s digital world.

-Techfinancials