Stakeholders Target 2,500MW Capacity for Data Centre Operations in Africa
Emma OKonji
With the several challenges facing data centre operators across Africa, such as poor electricity generation and distribution, restricted building permit, insufficient patronage, regulatory issues, among others, coupled with the meagre 400 Megawatts (MW) capacity generated in the whole of Africa, stakeholders and operators of data centres are targeting 2,500MW capacity of electricity that will enable data centres across Africa to operate optimally.
The target, though herculean, but achievable, was revealed at the Hyperscalers Convergence Africa 2024 digital infrastructure conference, which held in Lagos at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, recently.
Chairman of the conference, and CEO, Precise Financial Services, Dr. Yele Okeremi, in his opening remarks, said given the population of Africa, which is 18 per cent of the world population, the African continent stood at a critical juncture in the global digital evolution, because the 18 per cent accounts for a mere 0.02 per cent of the global fiber optic infrastructure and less than one per cent of the world’s 40 Gigawatts data centre capacity.
According to Okeremi, “The situation of Africa’s infrastructure development is really bad. It’s a big challenge, despite the progress made by companies and individuals that have invested heavily in technology since the 1990s when the first generation of Nigerian technology companies were just talking about that.
“Africa boasts of just over a million kilometers of fiber network with limited data centre capacity, which is in contrast to the rapidly advancing digital landscape in other parts of the world. The importance of a robust digital infrastructure cannot be overstated. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is not only a significant contributor to Africa’s GDP, but also a fundamental enabler of all the political factors from agriculture to healthcare, to education, among others.”
Convener of the conference, Temitope Osunrinde, who gave a general perspective of the slow digital development in Africa, said: “At this juncture, we’re not doing well as a country and as a continent. If you look across the broad fundamentals of the digital economy, and the metrics that drive digital economy, like fiber cable deployment and data centre operations, you will discover that we’re not doing well, and there is a mismatch.
“Nigeria as a country in Africa, for instance, has huge submarine cable capacity at the shores of the country, through the landing of several submarine cables in the country, but we have a big issue of transmitting the capacities to the hinterlands to boost data centre operations.”
In some of the panel sessions moderated by the CEO, Open Access Data Centres, Dr. Ayotunde Coker and the COO, MDXi, Mr. Gbenga Adegbiji, the panelists identified several factors affecting the growth of data centres in Africa, but explained that with strategic collaboration between government and the private sector, the challenges could be addressed.
