African Data Centre Market Expected to Double by 2026
The African data centre market is expected to experience extensive growth over the next two years. The Africa Data Centres Association (ADCA) and The Oxford Business Group (OBD) have co-authored a report ‘The Data Centres in Africa’ which investigates data centre development across the continent and suggests up to a 50% capacity increase by 2026.
While it is clear that there are a range of technical and regulatory issues that the African data centre market will need to overcome, the continent stands poised to offer significant opportunities.
Empowering Africa's digital future
‘The Data Centres in Africa’ report examins infrastructure development, broadband expansion and regulatory frameworks. It suggests that key markets including Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco are attracting investment and encouraging digital infrastructure development. However, the report emphasised the critical need for joint measures, from setting up special economic zones to arranging renewable energy subsidies, which will unlock Africa's digital potential.
The report was co-produced by underwater communications cable business MainOne and cloud- and carrier-neutral data centre services provider Paix.
“As Africa leads this transformative wave, data centres emerge as the linchpin driving regional growth, powered by high-speed fibre-optic links and strategic investments," said Ayotunde Coker, Chairman of ADCA and CEO of Open Access Data Centres.
Open Access Data Centres is an WIOCC Group company, which aims to transform the provision of data centre services across Africa. The company is implementing a world-class, carrier-neutral, pan-African data centre footprint, deploying open-access, Tier III hyperscale data centres at major cable landing locations and in key business hubs continent-wide. The brand’s vision is to enable Africa’s digital ecosystem and drive the economy in a sustainable fashion while offering world-class, client-centric data centre facilities, which is why we chose Open Access Data Centres to feature in ‘Top 10 Data Centre Providers in Africa’.
Ayotunde Coker's vision for Africa's tech future and digital transformation
We previously spoke to Ayotunde Coker after his appointment. He shared with us his excitement to be part of the OADC team and his dream to digitally transform Africa.
“We've got a great opportunity to create something unique and we expect to be able to execute our strategy very, very quickly. After just a few months of operation, we already have live facilities in over 20 locations across South Africa including OADC Durban, which is landing the new 2Africa subsea cable. We are also hosting the Equiano cable landing station in our OADC Lagos data centre. I’m excited about what we are providing for Africa,” says the CEO.
With years of experience working for a number of companies – including Capgemini and BP – Coker has a track record as a leader and builder of technology-based businesses. This experience has given him the drive to continuously provide best-in-class services through the companies he works with.
“We have a mix of operators, suppliers, and general industry executives. We're driving out advocacy for the data centre industry in Africa. We want to set the scene - bringing people together, getting the industry moving faster, making sure that we get things going at scale, providing thought leadership and being seen as a great example of an industry association,” explains Coker.
Read the full interview here.
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