Africa’s data centre market is experiencing rapid growth driven by increasing digital transformation, expanding internet penetration, and a rising demand for cloud computing services across the continent. Ayotunde Coker, former ADCA Chairman and CEO of Open Access Data Centres & Nikki Blake General Secretary of ADCA and CEO of GTSS, share their perspectives on the continent’s bustling market.
WHERE DO YOU SEE THE GREATEST ACTIVITY?
Ayotunde Coker: South Africa continues to lead, with developments by key players like Teraco with its large expansion in Isando, Johannesburg. However, this may well flatline once DCs in progress are launched. Key recent entrants over the past 18 months include Vantage data centres with two completed facilities, one with Microsoft, the other with Equinix.
However, the projected future compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of South Africa will be less than other emerging locations like Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and Morocco. Lagos, Nigeria is emerging as the next scale data centre hub, with about 70MW of additional capacity in various stages of design and build. The other key emerging markets listed above all have projected CAGRs exceeding 20%.
Nikki Blake: From a market maturity perspective, South Africa remains the most interconnected market, with multiple active IXPs and growing inter-metro fibre routes. Nigeria shows the highest demand pressure, but energy reliability remains a key bottleneck. Kenya is leading in sustainability, with geothermal-powered DCs and green policy alignment. Egypt is positioning itself as North Africa’s interconnect gateway. Ghana is quietly emerging as a West African backup and secondary cloud hub.
WHICH COUNTRIES ARE SHOWING MOST GROWTH?
Coker: Lagos, Nigeria is the highest for immediate growth after South Africa. Rack Centre in Lagos recently launched its 12MW hyperscale shell, while OADC has 24MW of hyperscale expansion in progress.
Blake: Lagos indeed holds momentum, but Nairobi’s emergence as an East African aggregation point should not be underestimated — especially with the Africa Cloud Xchange and Huawei’s investments. What’s also exciting is the shift toward multi-site portfolios from pan-African providers (like Raxio, Wingu, OADC) — allowing customers to scale across regions using a single vendor ecosystem.
WHAT’S DRIVING THE BOOM?
Coker: The emergence of local need for hyperscale cloud and CDNs are driving scale. The other key emerging driver is AI, with propositions such as GPU-as-a-service emerging.
Blake: What’s particularly significant is the accelerating convergence of AI and connectivity. With the rollout of 5G in markets like South Africa and Kenya, the demand for real-time processing at the edge is rising. AI inference workloads and video streaming are pushing requirements for low-latency micro-DCs. In addition, there’s growing demand for DCIM platforms and energy optimisation software as sustainability and PUE metrics become essential to investors and operators alike.
WHAT ARE YOUR 2030 EXPECTATIONS?
Coker: We will see the emergence of a single pan Africa data sovereignty and data protection framework like Europe’s GDPR. This will drive the growth of mega hubs, and catalyse investments in the smaller markets, particularly in countries that encourage digital infrastructure developments, access to lower cost and in particular, sustainable hydro, geo-thermal or gas-based power. Concerted Africa Union and continental stakeholder focus to achieve this is strategic for digital infrastructure growth.
Blake: By 2030, we anticipate more sovereign cloud offerings, particularly in nations with strong national data strategies; the African Union’s Smart Africa Alliance and IGF Africa initiatives are already setting the groundwork. Additionally, carbon reporting and ESG-linked financing will become a competitive differentiator for DC providers, especially those attracting international hyperscalers and institutional investment. We’ll also see a new generation of digital talent entering the workforce, many of them women, driving a more inclusive data economy.
