• Airtel Africa begins building East Africa's largest data center
• Kenya facility to offer 44 MW capacity, ready by early 2027
• Nxtra expands across Africa amid rising cloud, AI demand

Telecommunications group Airtel Africa announced on Tuesday that it has started construction on a new data center in Kenya through its subsidiary, Nxtra. The facility, touted as the largest of its kind in East Africa, will be located in Tatu City near Nairobi. With a capacity of 44 MW, it is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2027.

"Upon completion, the data center will be a go-to partner for cloud and AI workload hosting with a view to power businesses, support governments and unlock new opportunities for communities across the region," Airtel Kenya said in an official statement.

The launch of the project comes about a month after Airtel Africa began construction on a 38 MW facility in Eko Atlantic City, Lagos, Nigeria. A similar ceremony was held in March 2024 in Victoria Island, four months after the official launch of Nxtra by Airtel. The subsidiary aims to build a large network of high-capacity data centers across the continent, with infrastructure located in key metropolitan areas where the operator is active. Airtel Africa currently operates in 14 African countries.

Through this network, Airtel Africa seeks to meet the growing demand for secure and integrated solutions from multinational corporations, large African companies, startups, SMEs, and governments. This strategy is part of an accelerating digital transformation on the continent. Like other telecom operators, the group is diversifying its activities to capture new market opportunities. MTN Group, also pursuing this strategy, launched a new data center in Nigeria on July 1.

Africa's data center market has significant potential, given the continent's current shortfall. As of mid-2023, Africa accounted for less than 2% of the world's total colocation data center supply, with more than half of that concentrated in South Africa, according to the "Data Centres in Africa Focus Report" published by Oxford Business Group in April 2024. The report estimates that Africa needs approximately 1,000 MW of capacity and 700 additional facilities to meet demand. GSM Association (GSMA) identifies a $622 billion opportunity in the global B2B cloud and data center services market by 2030.

Isaac K. Kassouw