Under the agreement, Oni-Tel will deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity to Africa Data Centres’ Midrand and Samrand campuses through its Infinity fibre interconnection platform.

Purpose-built for data centre interconnectivity on a resilient network with direct access to Gauteng’s key data centre hubs, this provides customers with fast, high-capacity bandwidth and secure, carrier-grade performance, supporting the levels of uptime required in today’s data-driven environments.

“As enterprises accelerate cloud adoption, AI deployment, and data-intensive workloads, they need dependable, scalable connectivity within trusted local data centres.

By partnering with Oni-Tel, we’re giving our customers access to enhanced fibre infrastructure that supports their growth and innovation, while maintaining secure, enterprise-grade environments for businesses navigating South Africa’s digital economy,” said Adil El Youssefi, CEO of Africa Data Centres.

For Africa Data Centres, which operates the continent’s largest interconnected, vendor- and cloud-neutral data centre platform, the collaboration strengthens its service portfolio by enhancing performance and expanding connectivity options within its facilities.

Customers gain greater interconnection choice, high-availability architecture, seamless bandwidth, and the ability to scale efficiently as their infrastructure requirements grow.

“Our partnership with Africa Data Centres enables us to deliver our premium fibre interconnection solution into some of the most strategically important data centre hubs in Gauteng. Through Infinity, customers benefit from ultra-low latency connectivity, scalable capacity, and secure, carrier-grade infrastructure designed to keep their businesses ahead in an extremely competitive digital landscape,” said Ellisha Gobind, chief commercial officer at Oni-Tel.

Africa Data Centres’ facilities across the continent serve as key interconnection hubs, supporting enterprises, cloud service providers, financial institutions, mobile network operators, fixed network operators, and other users.

Oni-Tel’s dark fibre solution further expands the range of carrier-neutral options available to Gauteng customers, enabling improved network speed and performance.

As demand for secure, high-performance digital infrastructure continues to rise, Africa Data Centres remains focused on building a robust, interconnected ecosystem that supports enterprise innovation and long-term growth across South Africa and the wider region.

The state-of-the-art facility is designed to empower partners and resellers to move beyond traditional distribution, providing the immersive, hands-on environment needed to architect and deploy cloud and AI solutions tailored specifically to African market needs.

Through the Centre, partners will be onboarded to a structured journey that guides them in securing official Google Cloud accreditation and certification.

Beyond technical training provided by both Liquid C2 and Google, the centre will also serve as a collaborative hub, allowing them to work alongside specialist engineers to architect bespoke solutions.

Once finalised, these solutions will be brought to market through Liquid’s robust distribution network.

This expansion not only opens new commercial avenues for partners but also acts as a catalyst for high-value job creation and the rapid maturation of Africa’s technology ecosystem.

The Partner Experience Centre provides the partner and reseller ecosystem in Africa with direct access to enterprise-grade technologies such as Gemini Enterprise, and the “Gemini Playspace” for rapid AI experimentation.

It also provides specialist expertise to prototype, test, and scale digital solutions in real-world environments.

The centre is a testament to Liquid C2’s commitment to strengthening its role within the partner ecosystem in Africa, as it supports partners in overcoming infrastructure constraints, skills gaps, and complexity barriers that often slow digital transformation efforts across the continent.

As demand for advanced digital capabilities grows, the Partner Experience Centre serves as an innovation hub where enterprises, startups, academic institutions, developers, and public-sector stakeholders can co-create locally-relevant solutions, fostering a sense of shared progress and community across Africa.

The facility also provides industry-specific platforms tailored to sectors including financial services, healthcare, and retail. These platforms demonstrate how AI-enabled solutions can reduce operational risk, improve efficiency, enhance customer engagement, and unlock new growth opportunities across African markets.

“At Cassava Technologies, we believe the future of Africa’s digital transformation will be shaped through strong ecosystems that combine global innovation with local infrastructure and expertise,” said Ziaad Suleman, senior vice president, Cassava Technologies and CEO, South Africa & Botswana.

“The Partner Experience Centre powered by Google Cloud creates a practical environment where organisations can explore, test, and scale solutions that deliver real business value. By combining our infrastructure, expertise, and continental reach with Google Cloud’s advanced technologies, we are helping to democratise access to AI and cloud capabilities for enterprises across Africa.”

“This is a pivotal moment in our commitment to Africa’s digital future,” said Tara Brady, president, Google Cloud EMEA. “The Partner Experience Centre is a testament to our belief in the power of a strong partner ecosystem. By combining our advanced AI capabilities, including our Gemini models, with Liquid C2’s localised expertise, we are not just building a facility; we are building a hub for innovation that will empower businesses, create jobs, and deliver the benefits of digital transformation to every corner of the continent.”

The collaboration will focus on three core pillars of transformation:

• Accelerated Partner Enablement: The centre acts as a dedicated Proof-of-Concept (PoC) hub designed to dismantle historical market barriers. It provides localised training, hands-on technology interaction, and business support, leveraging Liquid’s capabilities to offer local currency billing and credit to manage financial complexity for resellers.
• AI and Technology Innovation: A primary focus is empowering partners to build and deploy advanced AI solutions. The facility features a dedicated “Gemini Playspace & AI Solutions” to certify technical staff, alongside integrated “Solutions Pods” where partners can demonstrate complete technology stacks to win complex enterprise bids.
• Economic Growth and Job Creation: The partnership is a direct investment in Africa’s tech workforce. By strategically broadening the partner network, the initiative will foster deep, localised expertise and act as a catalyst for new economic opportunities, creating a significant ripple effect of job creation for certified engineers and other tech professionals across the continent.

As a business of Cassava Technologies, Liquid C2 has always been at the forefront of bringing cutting-edge digital technologies to African businesses, both directly and through its partner ecosystem.

This first-of-its-kind Partner Experience Centre is yet another milestone that reflects the company’s commitment to partnerships that leverage its continental footprint to serve a broader base of organisations.

Aligned with this, Cassava continues to expand digital inclusion across Africa through its integrated portfolio of connectivity, cloud, cyber security, and digital solutions, ensuring that a broad spectrum of organisations, regardless of size or sector, can access and benefit from advanced technologies, thereby enabling more inclusive participation in Africa’s digital economy.

This brings an end to a period that saw commendable growth in the company’s West African operations.

In a personal statement shared on LinkedIn, the Regional Executive for West Africa confirmed he would be leaving the business, shedding light on what he described as a defining chapter in his career and the company’s development across the region.

“After 5+ incredible years, it’s time for me to sign off from Africa Data Centres (ADC).

What started as a bold experiment-stepping into a new market as a challenger-has evolved into a definitive chapter of growth, resilience, and success.

We didn’t just build data centres; we built the infrastructure for the future.

The journey was far from linear. It was defined by:

The Steep Curves: Navigating the complexities of a new market and turning challenges into competitive advantages.

The Milestones: Moving from our first rack to becoming a well-established, trusted partner in the colocation space.

The Culture: Building an organisation from the ground up that prioritises both operational excellence and a bit of fun along the way.

To my team and colleagues: You are the heartbeat of this success. Thank you for the late nights, the strategic breakthroughs, and the countless cups of coffee that fueled our progress. I am immensely proud of the “well-established” powerhouse we’ve become.

I’m walking away with great memories and a sharp focus on what’s next.

To my network: Stay tuned-I’m excited to share my next chapter with you soon.”

Dr Krish served most recently as Regional Executive for West Africa, a role he assumed in September 2022 after previously working as Chief Technology Officer at the company.

During his tenure, ADC expanded its regional and edge data centre footprint, becoming a key infrastructure provider that supports cloud adoption and local data hosting across several African markets.

Africa Data Centres, part of Cassava Technologies, operates one of the continent’s largest networks of carrier- and cloud-neutral data centre facilities. The company has been important in supporting digital transformation efforts, particularly as businesses shift workloads to the cloud and governments push for stronger data localisation.

Demand for data centres across Africa is increasing fast, driven by fintech growth, increasing internet usage and tough regulatory expectations around where data is stored.

In Nigeria especially, Dr Krish consistently argued that local data infrastructure is critical for digital sovereignty, improved security and long-term economic value.

Before joining ADC, he held senior leadership roles across Nigeria’s connectivity and data infrastructure sector, including positions at Medallion Communications Limited and Century Data Integrated Services Ltd. His career spans more than three decades across data centres, cloud services, connectivity and managed IT operations.

His exit comes at a time of strong competition in Africa’s digital infrastructure space, as global hyperscale cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google strengthen their presence on the continent, increasing pressure on regional operators to scale quickly and maintain local relevance.

ADC has not yet announced a successor or provided details on leadership changes following his departure.

Gebeya Dala shatters the technical barriers to entry for the digital economy. It is built not for expert developers or artists, but for the vast, untapped potential of Africa’s youth. Its launch modules include:

An AI-Powered App Builder, enabling anyone, even without coding experience, to create functional applications in minutes using simple instructions in their local language.

An AI Comic Book Creator, allowing users with no artistic training to visually bring Africa’s rich oral traditions and original stories to life in comic and manga formats.

This partnership unites Cassava’s scalable, secure cloud and GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) infrastructure with Gebeya’s vision to unlock mass creativity. The collaboration ensures that the power of AI is accessible, culturally relevant, and technologically sovereign.

“Africa’s digital future must be built in Africa, by Africans. Our partnership with Gebeya brings this to life by making advanced AI accessible to every young creator, entrepreneur, and storyteller across the continent. Not only are we enabling sovereign innovation, where African ideas are developed and protected locally, and scaled globally, we’re unlocking the next generation of local talent and driving a truly inclusive digital economy,” said Ahmed El Beheiry, CEO of Cassava AI.

A primary objective is the co-development of culturally relevant Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI tools. All data processing and model training will occur within Africa on Cassava’s infrastructure, ensuring data sovereignty, low latency, and compliance with local regulations.

“Our mission is to build the operating system for Africa’s digital economy, and that begins by empowering the millions, not the few,” said Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co-Founder of Gebeya. “With Cassava’s infrastructure, ‘Gebeya Dala’ is a declaration that you don’t need to be a coder to build an app, or an artist to create a comic. We are handing the keys of creation to a teenager in Dakar, a merchant in Nairobi, and a storyteller in Lagos. This is how we unlock a continental wave of innovation.”

The partnership includes a joint go-to-market strategy to promote these tools to students, entrepreneurs, and creatives across the continent.

Noting this in an interview with Techeconomy, Dr Krishnan said, “Data domestication is a legal requirement of any continent. The data must remain within the sovereign borders of the country. Which is a must, which is a mandate, and which we are pushing through the ministry as well as NITDA, and the Data Protection Commission,” he said.

“This is happening as of now, and it’s a process, so over a period of time, we will get it 100% right.”

Africa Data Centres, a subsidiary of Cassava Technologies, operates one of the largest network-neutral data centre platforms on the continent. And as Nigeria tightens its data localisation policies, the company is helping to build the country’s long-term digital sovereignty infrastructure, ensuring that sensitive workloads stay local, not on foreign servers.

But building a data economy that can handle that responsibility isn’t simple. Beyond compliance, the stakes are national, data is becoming a new form of sovereignty, determining a country’s digital independence.

When asked about the growing wave of AI, Dr Krishnan Ranganath pointed to both progress and challenges. “AI workloads are beginning to increase as of now. And of course, the networks need to fall in place. We have a lot of issues on the networks and connectivity side that is falling in place bit by bit,” he said.

“Once some of the ongoing projects fall in place, that latency part will reduce. Because Nigeria is not just Lagos alone. It goes out to other parts of Nigeria, which is, you know, a home for 180 million remaining Nigerians.”

He pointed out that AI won’t scale if the rest of the country remains poorly connected. For years, Lagos has carried the digital load, but expanding reliable connectivity and infrastructure across other regions is now essential if Nigeria wants to compete in the AI phase.

AI adoption, in particular, depends on strong, distributed infrastructure, something data centres like Africa Data Centres are striving to build across the region.

Still, even the most advanced data centres can’t operate without steady electricity, and that’s where Nigeria continues to find it tough. Unreliable electricity continues to drag on the growth of digital services.

On this, Dr Krishnan Ranganath said, “Power always remains an issue in Nigeria, especially the transmission is the biggest issue for power. Otherwise, you know, we have decent enough power generation in Nigeria.”

He believes collaboration between data centres, operators, and independent power producers (IPPs) is the key to keeping servers online. “Collaboration between various data centres and operators along with IPPs is the way forward, which I see,” he explained.

“Of course, we talk about a lot of atomic power and other related stuff, but we are not ready for that as of now, to my understanding, because the government needs to put frameworks for that. But to start with, better collaboration between the data centres, operators, and IPPs, that takes us a long way.”

That kind of realisation, balancing vision with practical limitations, defines Africa Data Centres’ approach. The company is part of a pan-African drive to build the backbone of the continent’s digital economy. 

In Nigeria, this means laying the foundation for a phase where data sovereignty, AI innovation, and energy sustainability converge.

Companies like Africa Data Centres are taking a chance that these gaps can be bridged with consistent investment, strategic partnerships and patient execution..

At GITEX NIGERIA 2025, global players talked about scaling AI and cloud adoption across Africa, but Dr Krishnan’s perspective was grounded in the realities on the ground: local data, stable power, and connected networks. Without these, the continent’s AI vision might still be waiting for the lights to stay on.

The solutions will enable Cassava’s existing and potential customers to process AI workloads and data within national borders in alignment with local requirements and regulations.  

Cassava will begin in South Africa and later expand into Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria.

This phased rollout is in line with Cassava’s expansions planned at its other data centre facilities across Africa.

Cassava will leverage the company’s pan-African high-speed, ultra-low-latency, fibre broadband network, which interconnects the company’s energy-efficient data centres to power AI computing workloads. 

“AI is opening up exciting new opportunities for sparking innovation, advancing competitiveness and driving growth across Africa,” said Mauro Macchi, CEO of Accenture for Europe, Middle East and Africa. “With our deep, global experience in sovereign cloud and AI, Accenture will help Cassava deliver secure, scalable sovereign AI solutions and reimagine its operations. Together, we will enable organizations across the African continent to adopt AI with confidence and unlock new ways to create value.” 

“With our GPUaaS, Cassava will drive the continent’s AI revolution by allowing businesses to access compute power based on their individual needs. This is our commitment to ensuring Africa has the infrastructure and access it needs to compete in the AI era – AI isn’t just a technology story; it’s a nation-building story with inclusion at its centre,” said Ahmed El Beheiry, CEO of Cassava AI. “Collaborating with Accenture allows us to leverage their global expertise in building a sovereign AI cloud capability designed for the African market. This partnership will strengthen data governance, drive practical AI adoption across key industries, and ensure that we provide African solutions for African challenges.” 

Through this collaboration, the two companies will integrate the context, languages, and cultural nuances of the region into these AI solutions, ensuring that the solutions/services are relevant and impactful for African enterprises across key sectors such as financial services, mining, telecommunications, agriculture, and healthcare.

This localised approach will not only strengthen compliance and trust but also ensure that the technology reflects the realities of the markets it serves, enabling businesses to innovate in ways that are meaningful and sustainable. 

Cassava will invest in the infrastructure and platform build-out to ensure readiness for commercialisation, with a focus on scalability, security, and compliance, thereby reinforcing its broader commitment to responsible AI adoption, innovation and productivity growth in Africa. 

ADC is part of Cassava Technologies a pan-African technology leader providing a vertically integrated ecosystem of digital services and infrastructure enabling digital transformation across Africa.

As a key stakeholder with over three decades in the Data Centre, Cloud, Connectivity, and Managed IT Services industries, Dr. Krish is renowned for his significant contributions in building the most number of data centres in the region.

Dr Krish is vastly experience in incubating startups and positioning them as challengers in high growth markets where they operate.

His impressive experience in running businesses includes complete life cycle management of the business includes: business planning, end-to-end P&L ownership, product development, sales/business development, go-to-market strategies formulation and execution, establishing multi megawatt Data Centre projects, service delivery, procurement, HR, finance and other business support functions, establishing systems and processes including integrated BSS and OSS automation, as well as applying the latest AI trends across the business-functions

He is a recipient of several awards by various institutions recognizing his impeccable contribution toward the development of the Data Centre Industry and the overall ICT sector in Africa over the years.

In this interview, Dr. Krishnan Ranganath, the regional executive – West Africa & Morocco- at Africa Data Centres (ADC), speaks on sundry issues impacting the tech industry. Excerpt:

Would you say the 2024 global economic challenges still affect the tech industry, particularly from your perspective in Africa?

Dr. Krish: 2024, a year of significant uncertainty across the globe, also had its share of challenges for Africa. However, we chose to take these challenges as learning opportunities—making the necessary adjustments and finding ways to adapt and move forward.

In the tech industry, change is constant; each day brings something new. We saw the rise of Nvidia and AI, and now, overnight, we’re discussing Deepseek. As a tech professional, it’s crucial to stay adaptable and embrace global changes while exploring how to apply them locally and regionally.

Technology continues to evolve daily, infiltrating our personal lives and promising more advancement throughout the year. These developments are likely to create significant employment opportunities across various sectors.

What strategic priorities should the tech industry focus on in 2025 to stay competitive?

Dr. Krish: In the midst of a rapidly changing technological landscape, companies are navigating the transformative power of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). A striking 85% of businesses report that adopting AI has already improved productivity. McKinsey notes that companies using AI extensively can increase their cash flow by 122% over a five-year period.

These innovations are reshaping industry frameworks and altering competitive dynamics—startups leveraging blockchain technology are disrupting financial services and attracting substantial funding. This shift compels established players to rethink strategies, invest in digital transformation, and adapt to new consumer expectations driven by rapid technological advancements.

Looking at 2025, AI is at the centre of global conversations, supported by big data, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, which play a critical role in the tech ecosystem.

What trends are shaping data centre adoption in Africa amid the rise of cloud and AI?

Dr. Krish: As the drive to develop artificial intelligence and related technologies grows, so does the demand for data processing capacity—fuelling a data centre boom across Africa, despite infrastructure challenges.

In recent years, investment in African data centres has increased, though not at the same scale as more established economies.

Since 2022, new carrier-neutral data centres have been commissioned, with more in the pipeline. Key construction activity is underway in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. These developments are supported by efforts to improve regulatory frameworks, energy infrastructure, and connectivity—while also promoting digital transformation, cloud adoption, and addressing the skills gap.

However, the continent still lags behind global benchmarks, accounting for less than 2% of the world’s co-location data centre supply. Notably, more than half of this capacity is concentrated in South Africa, according to the Africa Data Centres Association.

Currently, cloud services for Africa are largely served from South Africa and Europe. As demand rises, we’re seeing the emergence of local cloud regions in Nigeria and Kenya, with further expansion expected in Morocco, Egypt, and other countries.

What are the best ways for industry stakeholders to collaborate and accelerate data centre adoption in Africa?

Dr. Krish: Among African data centre operators, we have five to six key players. Collaboration should focus on capacity sharing across locations and real-time communication regarding available resources.

Initiatives like the Africa Data Centres Association (ADCA) are gaining traction, and we expect greater clarity on collaborative strategies moving forward.

We also need to prioritise human capacity building and enhanced network connectivity between data centres. This will simplify client operations across multiple providers and drive a more integrated infrastructure ecosystem.

What role should governments play in accelerating Africa’s data centre expansion?

Dr. Krish: Take Nigeria as an example—regulatory bodies like the NDPC and NITDA play pivotal roles in driving data centre growth. When governments advocate for digitalisation and data localisation, the local cloud and data centre industries benefit significantly.

A major opportunity lies in repatriating African government data—over 75% is currently hosted outside the continent. Bringing this data back home would be a substantial driver for local industry, demonstrating leadership from the front.

Additionally, governments should consider reducing customs tariffs on data centre-related imports. While free zones exist, most are located outside city limits—areas where clients typically prefer data centres to be.

Do you see a substantial market opportunity for data centres in Nigeria?

Dr. Krish: The Nigerian data centre market presents significant growth opportunities, driven by increasing cloud adoption, digitalisation, and the need for secure and scalable data storage.

The market size is estimated at 136.7 MW in 2025 and is expected to reach 279.4 MW by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 15.37%.

Additionally, colocation revenue is projected to increase from USD 251.1 million in 2025 to USD 578.1 million by 2030, reflecting a CAGR of 18.15%.

Data localisation initiatives and digital transformation efforts are driving profound changes in the Nigerian data centre market, with government emphasis on local data hosting leading to increased domestic investments.

The signing ceremony took place during the 28th Cairo ICT Exhibition and Conference, held under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

eFinance Investment Group and Cassava Technologies plan to leverage each other’s respective strengths and experience.

Cassava Technologies will bring its extensive African footprint, infrastructure, and continental experience, whilst eFinance will bring its strong market presence and reputation as Egypt’s foremost leader in digital transformation.

This collaboration aims to introduce innovations to the Egyptian market, drawing on eFinance’s robust presence and trusted reputation and Cassava Technologies’ pan-Africa reach and global partnerships.

Cassava Technologies, headquartered in the UK, is a global technology leader of African heritage, with presence across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the United States of America.

Its portfolio includes fiber broadband networks, satellite communications, data centers, renewable energy solutions, financial technology, digital platforms, artificial intelligence, as well as cloud and cybersecurity services.

e-finance Investment Group is a developer of digital payments infrastructures that was established in 2005 to develop the Government of Egypt’s financial network.

Over the course of nearly two decades, the Group has penetrated all corners of Egypt’s digital market and transformed itself into a leading technology-focused investment firm.

With a dynamic business model and a flexible organizational structure, e-finance is able to focus on multiple target markets through its subsidiaries and maximize its ability to unlock value in the digital payments space.

The Group boasts a portfolio of subsidiaries that has enabled e-finance’s growth across multiple markets, unlocked synergies across its business lines, and enabled digital transformation for various strategic sectors throughout the nation to support the development of Egypt’s digital economy and drive towards financial inclusion.

Ibrahim Sarhan, Chairman and CEO of eFinance Investment Group, expressed his pride in partnering with Cassava Technologies, a global leader renowned for its extensive technological solutions and infrastructure across Africa.

He emphasized that this collaboration represents a significant milestone in offering a unique range of joint services across the African continent, with a particular focus on the Egyptian market, where eFinance continues to lead the digital enablement for financial access across various industries and sectors.

According to Hardy Pemhiwa, president & Group CEO of Cassava Technologies,

“eFinance has a track record of success in driving digital transformation in Egypt which is truly commendable. This collaboration between Cassava Technologies and eFinance Group will accelerate the adoption of digital solutions in Egypt and the MENA region. eFinance’s experience across key sectors in Egypt make them an ideal partner for us as we expand our presence in Egypt and the region. This partnership further enhances our ability to deliver on our vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind”.

This pivotal event aims to address the digital infrastructure gaps across the continent by uniting key stakeholders—including operators, regulators, investors, and service providers—to work toward a unified goal for Africa’s digital future.

The conference seeks to bring together Africa’s digital infrastructure community, fostering collaboration and innovation across sectors such as data centres, connectivity, cloud services, and more.

Confirmed attendees include senior and executive representatives from major organizations such as Meta Platforms, Cassava Technologies, Equinix, IHS Towers, Airtel, Apolo.io, Open Access Data Centres, MTN, Analyses Mason, Xalam Analytics, inq, Avanti Communications Plc., Digital Realty, Raxio Group, and various state governments.

The event will feature keynote presentations, panel sessions, and fireside chats on critical themes, including: “Satellite, Subsea, and Terrestrial: Africa’s Path to Seamless and Integrated Connectivity”; “Regulatory Frameworks for Fostering Digital Infrastructure Development in Africa”; “Data Center and Cloud in Africa: The Journey to 2500MW”; “Funding Africa’s Digital Infrastructure: What is the Right Mix?”, and “The Talent Gap: Developing Sustainable Digital Talent for Africa”, among others.

Speakers at the conference include Kazeem Oladepo, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at IHS Towers; Dr. Ayotunde Coker, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Open Access Data Centres; Wole Abu, CEO, Liquid Intelligent Technologies; Sade Dada, Public Policy Manager, Anglophone West Africa, Meta Platforms; Josephine Sarouk, Managing Director (MD), Bayobab; and Olatubosun Alake, Honorable Commissioner, Innovation, Science and Technology, Lagos State. Other speakers include Lanre Kolade, Chairman, ConnectedCompute; Ikechukwu Nnamani, CEO of Digital Realty Nigeria; Bill Kleyman, CEO of Apolo/Program Chair, AFCOM and Data Center World; Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria; Dr. Krish Ranganath, Regional Executive- West Africa, Africa Data Centres; Wabo Majavu, Executive of Strategy and Business Operations at Africa Data Centre; Gbenga Adegbiji, CEO of Geniserve; Guy Zibi, Managing Partner of Xalam Analytics; Olusegun Maleghemi, CIO, Ouranos; Adewale Adeyemi, Head, Business Development; TeKnowledge; Adewole Adebisi, Head, Technical Operations, Raxio Group; Ifeanyi Akosionu, Managing Director, inq Digital; Dr. Hakeem Onasanya, Head, Startups (Lagos Innovates), LSETF; Olawale Owoeye, CEO, Cedarview Communications; Sameer Gupta, Principal, Analyses Mason; Femi Fajemirokun, Head, Information, Telecoms and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), West African Power Pool, and Reuben Oshomah, Regional Director, West and Central Africa, Avanti Communications Plc.

Ahead of the event, Kazeem Oladepo, Chief Operating Officer at IHS Towers, expressed enthusiasm: “The Hyperscalers Convergence Africa conference promises to be a valuable platform to discuss opportunities and address pressing challenges in the deployment of digital infrastructure. I believe this gathering will set the stage for new initiatives, partnerships, and solutions that will advance Africa’s digital transformation.”

Lanre Kolade, Chairman of ConnectedCompute and former Group Chief Executive Officer of CSquared, emphasized the role of innovation through partnerships: “We can build digital infrastructure expansion and resilience by collaborating and creating synergies to close infrastructure gaps and empower our digital economy with a pan-African collaboration.”

“As we grow Africa’s digital economy, the role of data centres becomes increasingly critical. At the Hyperscalers Convergence Africa conference, we have a unique opportunity to align our efforts and build out the infrastructure needed to support this growth.

“By aligning expanding carrier-neutral data centre capacity with robust pen access connectivity, we can unlock the potential for greater innovation and economic development and changing lives across the continent” commented Dr. Ayotunde Coker, Chief Executive Officer of Open Access Data Centres.

The Hyperscalers Convergence Africa conference represents a critical step in bridging the digital infrastructure gap across Africa.

By bringing together influential leaders and innovators, this event will foster collaboration and drive the necessary conversations and actions to shape Africa’s digital future.

The insights and partnerships forged at this conference will be instrumental in unlocking new opportunities for growth, innovation, and sustainability in Africa’s digital economy.

The announcement was made during the fifth South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) in support of SA President Cyril Ramaphosa’s initiative to drive investment into the country.

Through this investment, Cassava, which has operations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the USA and Latin America, will continue to bring internationally recognised services and products to South Africa through the group’s renewable energy, cloud & cyber security, data centres and broadband connectivity business units. 

South Africa accounts for the largest proportion of Africa’s industrial GDP with a sophisticated and growing ICT sector. The country’s unique combination of highly developed first-world economic infrastructure and a stable macro-economic environment affords businesses like ours a conducive investment environment in which we can partner with the government to drive economic development and create jobs,” stated Hardy Pemhiwa, President & Group CEO of Cassava Technologies.  

Cassava’s investment pledge comprises key projects, including the expansion of the Liquid Intelligent Technologies fibre network, the extension of Africa Data Centres capacity and footprint, enhanced cloud and cyber security capacity, and the rollout of clean, renewable energy by Distributed Power Africa in South Africa. 

South Africa’s $6.75 billion ICT sector represents one of Africa’s most investment-attractive and growth-bound industries today. The world bank estimates that South Africa’s internet penetration rate has doubled over the last decade, standing at 70%. While the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa reports that the national population coverage for 4G/LTE was at 97.7% in 2021, placing the nation years ahead of its peers in sub-Saharan Africa.  

Cassava’s investments will contribute towards positioning South Africa as an attractive investment destination and enable greater inclusion of all South Africans consistent with Cassava’s vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind.