Page 6 - Issue 3 2023

COVER STORY

announced at the end of 2021. “We On the cusp of a data boom
said we are planning to build several Getting back to the importance of data centres when it comes to Africa realising its
data centres across several regions, digital dreams, Durvasula says he believes the continent is on the cusp of an enormous
including South Africa, Nigeria, data centre boom as internet penetration rates rise, organisations across the public and
Kenya, Morocco and Egypt over the private sector turn to cloud technologies, and regulators start insisting on greater data
next two years, and have already sovereignty for the continent. Statistics reveal that Africa currently hosts less than 1% of
made great strides. Shortly after the the world’s co-location data centre facilities, with the majority of capacity lying in South
announcement, we unveiled plans to Africa.”
expand our capacity in Johannesburg “And in this age of the cloud and growing digitalisation, the location of the facilities
to 100 MW of IT load. Moreover, in that store and process millions of gigabytes of our most important data, has become
January this year, we officially broke a strategic issue. Organisations in Africa are wanting to move their IT resources closer
ground on an additional data centre to where their customers are, and there is a growing focus on data residency. Not
facility in Nairobi, which will see our only does having data closer lower latency, but it also removes the costs associated
existing facility on the adjacent piece with data travelling for long distances. In short, African countries want their data to
of land expanded up to an extra 15 remain within their borders, which is another factor driving investment into data centre
MW of IT load.” infrastructure on the continent.”
Similarly, Africa Data Centres Similarly, he says new technologies and trends such as artificial intelligence,
recently revealed a second data centre analytics, and big data are now democratised by the cloud. “These and other trends
is planned for Cape Town in the north such as the internet of things (IoT), intelligent automation, DevOps and more, mean
of the city that will have an IT load of that more digital infrastructure is needed to store, process and use all of the data that is
20 MW. “We are also thrilled to be being generated by these technologies.”
building our first data centre in Kigali,
Rwanda which will have 2 MW of IT Putting down roots in Africa
load and will be purpose-built to meet By committing to Africa through the continuous deployment of capital-intensive
growing demand in the region. There infrastructure projects, as Africa Data Centres is doing, organisations can play a
are more exciting plans in the pipeline, pivotal role and promote a knock-on effect for communities and economies across
and further announcements can be the continent. This will enable multinational giants to put down roots in Africa with
expected soon.” confidence and the assurance that future growth and prosperity are inevitable. On the
In total, the data centre giant other hand, without access to always-on, high-speed data centre facilities, the private
intends to invest $500 million in sector cannot compete on an international level, which will slow local growth, and will
this African expansion, which is hamper IT services in the public sector – from healthcare and education to government
the greatest that Africa has ever services and transport infrastructure.
seen, and which will double its Speaking of the demand which is driving Africa Data Centres’ massive investment
already considerable footprint on into Africa, he says the ongoing and accelerated adoption of the cloud is seeing
the continent. “These, and future more and more entities, particularly those involved in financial services, healthcare
announcements, shine the spotlight on and manufacturing, migrating their data and processes off-premise, and into hosted
our commitment to accelerating digital data centres. This is due to the well-known benefits that the cloud offers, such as its
transformation in Africa. Growing our consumption-based model, scalability and ease of use.
footprint across the continent is a “There can be no doubt that Africa is beginning to level up with its international
crucial part of delivering on our vision counterparts. There are many burgeoning economies on the continent. ICT
of a digitally connected future that infrastructure is improving daily, and reasonable labour costs are making the continent
leaves no African behind. “ a compelling prospect for investors,” he adds.
Africa Data Centres is not alone
in its faith in the continent. “We can Digital connectivity is the key
expect to see a considerable wave of Again, none of this can happen without digital connectivity and data centres which are
data centre investments across Africa, the very foundation of cloud technologies. Promoting a knowledge-based economy by
from a multitude of providers. We giving Africans the chance to harness the incredible power of technologies, will increase
are already seeing the big tech giants the competitiveness and economic health of the continent, he explains.
in the United States eye Africa for “This is why we will carry on building data centres in Africa and will enter several
investment. Clear economic leaders new markets. Africa Data Centres understands that this will boost every possible
such as South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and industry, including education, healthcare, financial services, agriculture, retail and
Nigeria will be at the vanguard of the government. Technology is the single greatest factor when it comes to transforming
boom and will act as hubs to service nations, particularly the more underdeveloped ones. Our aim, at the end of the day, is
other regions in the area.” to fuel greater inclusion, social cohesion and sustainability,” Durvasula emphasized.

6 | EngineerIT Issue 2 | 2023 SUBSCRIBE FREE