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.

But then, even with that growth, Africa as a whole holds less than 1% of global data-centre capacity. 

It’s a little absurd and extremely strategic. Because when we look closer at the data-centre boom, we are left wondering who owns and controls Africa’s data.

The Global Drive for Digital Sovereignty

To understand what’s happening here, you need to see what’s happening globally. Across the world, countries are waking up to the idea that data is not just a commodity but an infrastructure. Think Europe’s Gaia-X initiative, India’s data localisation laws, or Gulf states building sovereign AI hubs.

Why? Because data stored domestically means more control over privacy, over regulation, and over who profits. There’s also the geopolitical angle, where data centres are becoming as strategically important as ports, roads or energy grids.

In Africa, this aligns neatly with governments’ vision to assert control, retain value, and build digital resilience.

Why African Governments Are Focusing on Local Cloud

There are four key motives:

1. Economic Retention
   If data stays in-country, so do a lot of the dollars that would otherwise pay foreign providers. Governments see data centres as a way to repatriate value, spur job creation, and strengthen their digital economies.
2. Security
   Local hosting mitigates dependence on foreign infrastructure, reducing exposure to geopolitical risk and foreign surveillance. For some governments, this is not just desirable but vital for national security.
3. Compliance Pressure
   With African nations enhancing regulation of fintech, health, identity, and public records systems, having data remain within national borders gives regulators oversight. Data localisation policies are being mooted or enforced in several countries to ensure “sensitive data” stays local.
4. Leverage Against Hyperscalers
   Domestic cloud infrastructure strengthens the hand of regulators and governments in negotiating with global tech giants. Rather than being entirely dependent on foreign cloud providers, African nations can demand better terms, or even build their own sovereign clouds.

The Reality on the Ground: Africa’s Cloud Infrastructure

• Out of 211 active data centres in Africa, South Africa is leading with 49. Kenya has 18; Nigeria 16; Egypt 14. 
• According to a recent report, Africa’s data-centre market is projected to nearly double to $6.81 billion by 2030.
• These facilities aren’t just for storage: newer builds are being designed for AI workloads, using advanced cooling systems like liquid cooling. 
• Power is a real issue. But some players are already building renewable-powered data centres. For instance, Teraco (a Digital Realty company) is working on a 120 MW solar PV facility to support its South African data centres. 
• There are still infrastructure risks, during the submarine cable cuts off West Africa in March 2024, local data centres like Open Access Data Centres (OADC) Lagos helped sustain connectivity and critical services. 

Protection vs Progress: The Two Sides of Sovereignty

At its core, the controversy boils down to two competing visions:

Protection

• Local cloud gives governments custody: less reliance on foreign data centres, fewer risks of foreign interference.
• It’s an insurance policy against geopolitical shocks or cyber-espionage.
• In storing and processing data locally, states can better regulate crucial systems (payments, identity, health).

Progress

• Local cloud can boost innovation: by investing in infrastructure, governments can bring about new layers of the digital economy; AI, fintech, civic tech.
• Domestic cloud providers build a local value chain: engineers, operators, data engineers, system integrators.
• It lowers latency for businesses, enabling real-time services that matter to African markets.
• For SMEs, sovereignty doesn’t just mean control, it means opportunity: to build faster, cheaper, and more native digital products.

But there is a risk: if regulation gets too protectionist, it could limit competition. Cloud costs might go up, innovation might slow, and smaller players could be shut out if the entry barrier is too high.

What Sovereign Cloud Means for African SMEs

Here’s where it gets real for the small and medium businesses, the engine of most African economies.

1. Costs
   Local hosting may raise or lower costs, depending on how infrastructure and competition evolve. SMEs could face higher bills if global providers are forced to build more local capacity. But the upside is predictable pricing, stable peering, and potentially lower latency costs.
2. Performance
   If data is hosted nearer to users, services improve. Faster response times, better uptime, and lower latency make a huge difference, especially for real-time applications in fintech or logistics.
3. Compliance
   New data localisation laws may require businesses to store certain customer data locally, or to follow stricter security protocols. SMEs will need to understand and plan for these, or risk hefty penalties.
4. Differential Advantage
   SMEs that adopt local cloud early could gain a competitive edge. They can build cloud-native apps optimised for African markets, leverage local data for AI, and use sovereign infrastructure to appeal to customers who prioritise data protection and residency.

Risks & Challenges to Watch

It’s not all sunshine:

• High Barriers to Entry: The cost of building and running data centres is large, meaning only well-funded companies or governments may lead.
• Fragmentation: If each country builds its own cloud regime, we risk a patchwork of regulations that fragment rather than unify the African digital market.
• Dominance Risk: Without enough competition, a few big domestic players could dominate, reducing innovation.
• Talent Shortage: Skilled cloud and data-centre engineers are limited; infrastructure may grow faster than the workforce.
• Power Constraints: Reliable electricity is a major issue in many regions; sustainable, green energy solutions are not yet widespread.

The Opportunity: Sovereign, Smart, and Scalable

If done right, sovereign cloud is a strategic lever for Africa’s digital growth.

• We can build regional cloud federations, where countries pool data-centre resources, enabling scale without duplication.
• Public–private partnerships can boost growth: governments providing land or incentives, private firms building capacity, SMEs using it.
• African cloud providers can compete internationally, carving out a niche in AI and edge computing.
• Importantly, SMEs that embrace this infrastructure early could build next-generation services grounded in African data, with local trust, compliance, and speed.

Macro Outlook (2025–2030)

Over the next five years, this is what I expect:

• Cloud adoption in Africa will surge, driven by SMEs, governments, fintechs, and AI startups.
• Data-centre investments will intensify, especially in under-served regions, not just in South Africa or Kenya, but also in West and East Africa.
• Sovereign clouds will emerge not just in national capitals, but at the regional level, backed by both private and development-finance capital (e.g., IFC backing in Raxio).
• Companies that lean into local cloud now will be well-placed to lead in AI, digital public infrastructure, and next-gen fintech.

At the end of the day, local cloud isn’t just about where data rests but who builds Africa’s digital sector sustainably, who controls its value, and who benefits from its growth.

Sovereignty is not inherently protectionist, it’s a foundation for progress. But unless we strike the right balance between regulation, competition, investment, and innovation, it could become an obstacle instead.

So I ask: should African countries double down on sovereign infrastructure in the name of control, or lean into hybrid models that prioritise speed, cost, and global competitiveness?

Because how we decide today will affect Africa’s digital economy of tomorrow.

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.

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.