How the digital economy creates demand for data centers in Africa
Over recent years, developers in Africa have launched more and more data centers in Africa. This trend is driven by Africa being home to one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the world.
Though starting from a low basis, internet usage in Africa is growing rapidly. In 2013, only 11% of people in Africa were using the Internet regularly, compared to 35% in the MENA region and 35% globally (World Bank). 10 years later, in 2023, the share of people in SSA using the internet regularly increased threefold to 37%. In MENA, the share has more than doubled to 78%, while the global share has almost doubled to 67%.
On an annual basis, this represents an increase of 13% in Sub Sahara, 8% in the MENA region, and 7% worldwide. In other words, Sub Sahara Africa is growing at almost twice the pace of the global average – not even considering the dramatic increase in population the region has experienced over the same period.
With this booming number of Africans using the internet, more potential customers are online, and more business activity is taking place online. Enabling and supporting this growth is the increasing number of data centers in Africa. In the following, we will look at 3 examples of planned facilities from ABiQ’s project database.
Kenya Green Energy Data Center
The Kenya Green Energy Data Center is a $9 billion project in Kenya, East Africa. It is one of the most significant ICT investments in Africa.
Announced in early 2024, the project calls for constructing a 1GW, geothermal-powered data center in Naivasha, close to Nairobi. It will take place in phases, starting with the first 100 MW facility.
The developers are Kenyan Olkaria EcoCloud, and G42, a company based in Abu Dhabi. Microsoft and the Kenya Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs support these firms.
Construction start is scheduled for late 2024.
Africa Data Center, Accra
The Africa Data Center, Accra, is a $300 million project in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The project aims to construct a 30 MW data center, developed by Africa Data Centers, a subsidiary of Liquid Telecom of South Africa. Africa Data Centers owns and develops several data centers across the African continent.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is providing some of the financing. The project was announced in 2022 and is currently still in the planning stage.
Teraco Data Center, Nigeria
The Teraco Data Center in Nigeria is one of the many smaller projects planned data centers in Africa. For $20 million, developer Teraco Data Environments is planning to build a 1-4 MW data center. The project was announced in 2021. Construction is scheduled to start in 2025, and a feasibility study is currently ongoing.
Teraco, from South Africa, owns and develops several data centers in Africa.
About ABiQ
ABiQ’s real-time, online database, lists, profiles, and tracks major construction projects in Africa and the Middle East. We help global suppliers to cut through this vast region‘s complexity, access project sales opportunities, and save time on relevant research.
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