24 September 2025

The initiative was announced by Emma Theofelus, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, during a presentation outlining key government decisions aimed at accelerating the country’s digitalization efforts.

The ministry, working in partnership with the Prime Minister’s Office, has been tasked with developing the concept note and project proposal for the data centre’s establishment. At this stage, specific details regarding the centre’s design, capacity, and technical capabilities have not yet been disclosed.

Drawing from recent developments in Africa, similar data centres in countries like Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire typically meet at least Tier 3 standards set by the Uptime Institute. Tier 3 facilities feature multiple power and cooling circuits, ensuring high availability with limited annual downtime of approximately 1.6 hours. Higher tiers, such as Tier 4 and 5, offer even greater redundancy and resilience.

The announcement coincides with concerns over outdated or inadequate digital infrastructure in Namibia, as highlighted in the recently launched "National Digital Strategy Plan 2025-2029." The plan emphasizes leveraging digital technologies to foster economic growth, social inclusion, and societal progress. It aims to rapidly expand and upgrade digital infrastructure to support a wide range of applications, from providing essential services to enabling advanced digital innovations.

Namibia currently ranks 114th out of 193 countries on the United Nations e-Government Development Index (EGDI) 2024, with a score of 0.6007 out of 1. This places it above the African average of 0.4247 but slightly below the global average of 0.6189, underscoring the importance of the new data centre in strengthening the country’s digital capabilities.