The high-level session brought together senior executives, regulators, and investors from 15 countries across and beyond Africa.

During the Data Center Panel themed “Data Center and Cloud in Africa: The Journey to 2,500 MW,” industry experts, including Guy Zibi, Managing Partner at Xalam Analytics; Johnson Agogbua, Chief Executive Officer of Kasi Cloud Data Centers; Roger Shutte, General Manager, Infrastructure & Cloud Engineering at MTN Nigeria; Snehar Shah, Chief Executive Officer of IX Africa Data Centres; and Karim Amer, Head of IP Business for North, West, and Central Africa at Nokia, shared insights on Africa’s evolving data infrastructure landscape.

Amer from Nokia said North Africa is leading a new wave of investment. “By 2030, Egypt will account for about 25 percent of Africa’s total data center capacity, Morocco 15 percent, and Nigeria around 9 percent,” he said. “The balance of growth will depend on energy reliability, cross-border regulation, and policy openness.”

Zibi of Xalam Analytics, said the global AI race has redefined Africa’s opportunity map.

“If Africa captures even half a percent of global data-center power demand by 2030, that’s at least one gigawatt of new capacity,” he said. “The question is: who will finance, regulate, and staff it?”

Shah of IX Africa Data Centres, said regional frameworks will be key.

“We need East African data-sharing frameworks so neighbouring countries can use Kenya’s infrastructure,” he said. “Otherwise, capacity will remain isolated while demand elsewhere grows.”

Panelists agreed that AI, cloud, and fintech workloads are accelerating faster than infrastructure can keep up.  “The learning journey has shortened dramatically since November 2022 – what used to take 18 months to build as a minimum viable product now takes me an evening” said Roger Shutte, General Manager, Infrastructure & Cloud Engineering at MTN Nigeria. “The real challenge now is deployment — the infrastructure must be ready to keep up with that speed.”

The Hyperscalers Convergence Africa was convened by Africa Hyperscalers and supported by Nokia, Open Access Data Centres (OADC), IHS Towers, Vertiv, Equinix, and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The outlook for data centre growth on the African continent looks bullish.  With a population of almost 1.5 billion people, the African marketplace possesses a significant advantage in terms of market size and potential.

Importantly, whilst the continent might lag behind countries like China and India when it comes to sheer population size, what sets it apart is the average age of its population which is between 18-19 years.  It is a young generation that is well equipped to adapt to the digital’s environment continuous change.

This younger generation has a natural affinity for learning and working with technologies such as AI.  It’s this demographic advantage that will fast track Africa’s strengthening role in the global data centre marketplace.

Another important differentiator is the continent’s geographical location. Positioned almost centrally on earth, it offers major advantages in terms of connectivity and accessibility. Cities like Mombasa in Kenya are incredibly well located on sub-sea fibre links, offering a gateway to Asia that contributes to the processing of large amounts of data traffic.

Multinationals step into the limelight

Multinationals have a major role to play in harnessing full potential of the African data centre market.  Bridging the data centre skills gap is an important step.  Increasingly, multinational companies are hiring local engineers, providing valuable expertise and experience whilst exposing them to the global market.

At Schneider Electric for example, teams from regions such as Anglophone and Francophone Africa have continuous access to knowledge and developments from their peers across the world.  This is incredibly valuable as it allows these teams to stay on par with their global counterparts.

Importantly, it bridges the talent gap and brings the requisite skills that contribute to the ongoing growth of the African data centre marketplace.

Another important data centre growth enabler is infrastructure development.  Multinationals contribute to various aspects of infrastructure development, including grid stability, efficient water management, and the introduction of advanced technologies.

In turn, these investments deliver advancements in cooling systems, electrical equipment, and the promotion of renewable energy sources. Simply put, these developments and ongoing investment by multinationals offer significant benefits to the continent.

When discussing multinationals’ role in the African data centre market, it would be remiss not to mention sustainability.  Here, these organisations have a significant part to play in ensuring local data centre markets align with international environmental sustainability principles.

This includes implementing energy efficient infrastructure that utilises renewable energy sources, optimises cooling systems to minimise energy consumption, and effectively manages and tracks water consumption.

Together with environmental sustainability, social and governance also come into play. The data centre industry has the potential to bring significant growth in terms of education access, particularly through digital platforms. This can greatly improve access to education in Africa, providing opportunities for learning and skills development.

If one considers the ongoing investment in Africa and its favourable geographical position, it is highly likely that the continent will become a major player in both data centre expansion and the processing of data.  Over the next decade, a substantial portion of global data processing is expected to flow through Africa, cementing its position as a key player in the data centre industry.