The company could create data centres of between 1MW and 4MW in those countries, Hnizdo says from Johannesburg. Nigeria and Kenya have the liberalised telecoms sectors that data centres need, he adds.
Growing numbers of African internet users make it harder to serve the continent’s needs via offshore data centres in Europe or the US. Local capacity means faster connections speeds, and Africa’s data centre market is set to grow at a compound annual rate of more than 12% to reach $3bn in 2025, according to Turner & Townsend.
Growth in the provision of undersea cables for Africa has meant increased use of public clouds from providers such as Amazon and Huawei, says Hnizdo.
That in turn means that African companies such as banks are finding it harder to justify having an in-house data centre, he argues.
Covid-19 has accelerated the trend towards outsourcing data centres.
- In December, the
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