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According to Ben Selier, vice president of Secure Power for Anglophone Africa at Schneider Electric, Africa’s data centre market attracts significant foreign direct investment (FDI) and institutional investors.
Selier highlights the continent’s growing importance in helping global data centre developers meet their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals in this piece to Legit.ng
Over the past two years, Africa has seen numerous high-value transactions in the data centre sector. One of the most significant was the $3.5 billion acquisition of Teraco by Digital Realty. This deal followed Digital Realty’s earlier purchase of iColo, a Kenya-based platform with data centres in Nairobi and Mombasa. iColo is notable for its role in Africa's central subsea cable access point.
Another major player, Equinix, entered the African market by acquiring MainOne for $320 million, securing a presence in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria.
Source: Facebook
More firms invest in Data centres in Africa
In Johannesburg, NTT and Vantage Data Centres have committed more than $500 million to new data centres. Chinese cloud operators, such as China Mobile and Alibaba, have also established operations on the continent.
"Pan-African data centre operators like Africa Data Centres, Raxio, and PAIX are continuing to expand into new markets, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire," said Selier.
He also mentioned WINGU’s expansion into Somaliland, a region often considered challenging, where they lead with 25MW data centre developments.
Emerging Hubs Beyond South Africa.
Traditionally, South Africa has been the dominant player in Africa’s data centre industry due to its numerous subsea cable landing stations and established corporate markets.
However, Selier noted the emergence of new hubs in countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and Morocco.
In Nigeria, demand from the financial services sector is driving the expansion of data centre capacity.
The National Tier IV Data Centre in Kano is among the recent projects designed to support private businesses and public sector organizations. It serves as a backup to the Tier III data centre in Abuja.
Kenya, particularly Nairobi, continues to attract significant investor attention. However, according to Selier, the Kenyan government still needs to confirm plans to migrate its IT infrastructure to public cloud providers like Google, AWS, or Microsoft, which could further accelerate data centre growth.
On a positive note, Kenya's energy mix, primarily biogas and geothermal energy, aligns well with the ESG targets of data centre developers.
Balancing FDI and ESG Interests
Foreign direct investment is crucial for Africa’s economic growth, bringing capital, technology transfer, and job creation.
However, Selier emphasized the need for African governments to manage this investment carefully.
"It is important that African governments continue to strike a balance between attracting FDI and safeguarding their ESG interests," he said.
By doing so, they can ensure that data centre growth continues sustainably and responsibly, positioning Africa as a powerhouse.
Bill Gates’s firm to build $1bn data centre in Kenya
Legit.ng earlier reported that Microsoft, founded by billionaire businessman Bill Gates, and G42 are working together to build a $1 billion geothermal-powered data centre in Kenya.
G42 is a leading artificial intelligence company based in the United Arab Emirates.
This development comes after Microsoft shut down its Africa development centre in Nigeria, rendering about 200 people jobless.
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Source: Legit.ng
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