Africa Data Centres has broken ground on its new facility in Nairobi; The new build will expand its existing data center by up to 15 MW of IT load. The facility will be built in the company's leading-edge modular design.
Africa Data Centres, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, has officially broken ground on an additional data center facility in Nairobi. As part of the new construction, the existing facility on the adjacent plot of land will be expanded to accommodate an additional 15 MW of IT load.
ADC’s expansion at the new site will be completed in the first half of 2024 and will bring five times more capacity than is currently installed.
"We believe that data centers will play a significant role in digital transformation and economic growth on our continent. Without them, the push towards a digital economy in Africa will be missing a key pillar. Our decision to increase our investment in our data centers in Kenya is in recognition of the position the country now occupies as a leader in the adoption of digital technologies in Africa," said Hardy Pemhiwa, group president and CEO of Cassava Technologies.
During the ground-breaking ceremony, Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres, said, "The expansion will enable Africa Data Centres clients to grow and scale depending on their requirements. They can start small, increase to a medium capacity, and even benefit from a hyperscale type of deployment in a few years if they choose to. This will enable customers to operate multiple deployments across our sites with a single operations team, campus and infrastructure they are familiar with."
Kenya is the country that pioneered mobile money, and today it boasts a wide range of incubators and tech startups, a clear sign of an innovative tech culture. The focus on Kenya as a key region aims to take the region further into the digital era and uplift the country's profile globally as an attractive investment destination for international cloud providers, hyperscalers and other ICT companies.
The new data facility will begin with 5 MW of IT load and will be built in Africa Data Centres’ leading-edge modular design — an innovative approach that sees the entire facility, including all critical plant rooms, prefabricated off-site. This ensures the highest possible quality, while local contractors will still benefit from contracts to lay foundations, assemble and complete the build.
He stressed that sustainability is at the heart of everything Africa Data Centres does. In terms of cooling, even as the largest network of interconnected, carrier- and cloud-neutral data center facilities on the continent, ADC has a strict policy of not using adiabatic systems.
He added that Africa Data Centres is fortunate in Kenya as almost 70% of grid power is from green energy sources. "This helps us to meet our sustainability objectives because we understand no organization can achieve zero carbon emissions by itself. We understand that sustainability is about ensuring that we conduct ourselves in a manner that minimizes our impact on the environment. We extend this ethos to all of our partners and constantly look for ways to ensure that all elements of the business contribute positively to the sustainability of the planet.”
Today's event is a step forward in the company's expansion plans, announced in 2021, which will see Africa Data Centres invest $500 million into building hyperscale data centers across Africa with the support of the US Development Finance Corporation.