Page 6 - EngineerIT December 2021

ICT DATACENTRES

Datacentres: Africa's future is bright

By Jonathan Duncan, VP, Secure Power Solutions, Anglophone Africa, Schneider Electric

he world’s major datacentres have is required to meet
been typically centralised at several the continent’s
Tkey points across the globe like rapidly growing
Virginia in US, London in the UK and in data centre needs.
others such as Japan, Hong Kong China, The bottom line is
and Singapore. Together, these datacentre Africa needs more
locations account for a substantial share of funding from private
global footprint. investment to bridge the current $68 –
Compared to its continental $108 billion gap.
counterparts, Africa is lagging, with a
total datacentre size of approximately Green energy
2
140 000 m which is comparable to Datacentres are power hungry and
Switzerland. The continent, as it stands, is Jonathan Duncan continuously consume a vast amount
clearly underserviced. For example, live IT of power; this is especially true in some
power demand in markets like Dublin and African websites are currently hosted in African countries where many are faced
London total 795.8 MW but in markets European datacentre facilities. with extreme climatic conditions, which
such as Johannesburg and Nairobi live IT Datacentres must be as close as adds an additional level of complexity
power accounts for 54.9 MW and possible to the user to minimise latency, for the cooling systems employed and
19.04 MW, respectively. thus ensuring fast and reliable access often there is a subsequent increased
But there is some good news, with to the information or services. Closer energy usage.
growing digitisation and the rollout of proximity typically translates into more Furthermore, African countries
4G and 5G infrastructures (across the capacity and speed, which drives down often deal with unreliable grid power
continent) datacentres’ volumes are set costs and ultimately increases accessibility. suppliers that must be supplemented
to grow significantly in the next five years. by generator-based solutions, which
We have the possibility to “leapfrog” in As it stands, the African datacentre market typically means a higher energy cost.
technology and embrace the latest best can be segmented into three main tiers: Secure power solutions, such as
practices and trends established today and • Tier-1 - Cairo in Egypt, Johannesburg Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)
thus see a fleet of modern facilities with and Cape Town in South Africa, Lagos and energy management technologies,
higher efficiencies. in Nigeria, Nairobi in Kenya. These become essential for these facilities to
Africa with its population of 1,3 locations tend to be leading Africa’s operate effectively.
billion is driving a rapid and accelerating datacentre markets and are supported The good news is renewable energy
deployment need, particularly with a by investment from multinationals, solutions are growing in adoption and
young technology savvy and dynamic developers, and operators. are set to help mitigate some of the
populace; the sky could be the limit. • Tier-2 are those cities strategically above energy challenges. This, coupled
positioned in the most populous with the recent announcement of
Location, location, Location countries which include Giza and deregulation allowing Independent
To accelerate Africa’s digitalisation, there Alexandria in Egypt, Addis Ababa in Private Power Providers (IPPs) to operate
are a number of significant hurdles to Ethiopia, Luanda in Angola, Accra in in Southern Africa bodes well for more
be crossed. For one, cloud-based service Ghana, Maputo in Mozambique, and efficient power generation in Africa.
providers require closer proximity to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. We also see that the cost point for
populated centres to enable them to • Tier three markets are those sparsely renewable power generation such as solar
deliver more sophisticated services in a populated countries with poor and wind for example, has stabilised and is
timely and competitive manner while also infrastructure connectivity and business now becoming a more affordable option.
reducing data shipment costs. opportunities. Between 2010 and 2017 the average cost
Currently, nearly half of Africa’s of producing solar energy fell by 73%, and
colocation facilities are based either in The African Development Bank estimates by 22% for onshore wind power solutions
South Africa or Nigeria with Kenya and a total infrastructure investment of says the International Renewable Energy
Morocco following suit. Ironically, many approximately $130 to $170 billion a year Agency (IRENA). n

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