Africa Data Centres, Africa's largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities, has announced that it is building its first data centre in Rwanda.
The data centre, to be sited in the capital Kigali, will have 2MW of IT load and will be purpose-built to meet growing demand in the region. The company is due to break ground on the new facility in the first quarter of 2023.
Rwanda is, of course, something of a newcomer to the data centre business, though it has its own national data centre. However, Tesh Durvasula, Africa Data Centres CEO, says: "Our decision to build a data centre in Kigali was an easy one, given Rwanda's robust economic recovery post the Covid-19 pandemic and the Government of Rwanda's focus on digital transformation."
The company points out that, although Rwanda is a landlocked country in East Africa, there is stable network connectivity and infrastructure connecting it to Uganda and from there to the Kenyan coast. Africa Data Centres says it will ensure that Rwanda becomes part of its ecosystem in East Africa by connecting the new data centre to its site in Nairobi.
Africa Data Centres has a presence, actual or planned, in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and South Africa. Also, as we reported in September last year, the company is planning to build ten interconnected, cloud and carrier-neutral data centres across the length and breadth of the continent in what the company calls a $500 million investment in Africa’s digital future. The large hyperscale data centres will be built throughout Africa, including Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt in North Africa.
