FEATURE : DATA CENTRES

Network operators , telecom players , future investors will need to take calculated decisions as to when and where data centres in Africa should be located , with most locations in proximity to subsea cable landing stations or in digital hubs , where global networks interconnect with national and metro networks , explains Samuel

Carvalho from Angola Cables .

Lagging investments

Initially , data centres in Africa were located in the proximity of subsea cables landing stations and in established cities that were better equipped to meet the specifications of hyperscalers like Microsoft , Google , Meta and Amazon . But the demand for localised data storage has now outstripped demand .

Analysts maintain that Africa needs at least 700 new data centres to meet its connectivity and data storage requirements over the medium term . This includes tenant space for the growing number of businesses and SMME ’ s looking to manage their future cloud , peering and localised storage needs .

Data centres represent one of the most important building blocks in the quest for better digital connectivity . It is estimated that there are over 10,000 data centres in the world today . This number includes a wide range of facilities , from small , privately-owned structures to large hyperscale data facilities . On the African continent , there are just over 100 data centres , most of them located in South Africa , Nigeria and Kenya .

Although we are seeing a positive rise in data facilities and cloud investments on the continent – with forecasts predicting around US $ 7 billion in investments at a CAGR of around 7 % over the 2024 to 2028 period , this is still far short of the demand requirements , and the real investments needed in providing future storage capacity and related network infrastructure .

At present terrestrial network or metro infrastructure across many parts of the continent are not yet sufficiently developed to create digital paths and justify the data centres needed to serve local markets and provide tailored digital services at affordable prices . The availability of power and network connectivity is also limiting the size and scale of where new data facilities that can be constructed .

Strategic locations

In concentrated , developed markets such as the USA and Europe , data centres attract investment because there is an exponential increase in demand for data storage , processing , content caching and cloud management .

Cities like Johannesburg , Cape Town , Lagos , and Nairobi are leading the race in cumulative leased data centre capacity , and while data centre hubs in Luanda , Kinshasa , Dar es Salaam and Cairo are showing promising signs of growth , there are still challenges .

What is more , they can easily interconnect to a myriad of established networks that offer varying levels of redundancy , reliable power and virtually zero downtime . In Africa , the environment is more complex .

However , countries like Angola and South Africa have become a focal point for investors . For instance , global connectivity and digital services provider , Angola Cables ’ fibre network point in Luanda currently

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