Africa Data Centres, which provides carrier-and cloud-neutral data centre facilities on the continent, has formed a strategic partnership with The London Internet Exchange (LINX), to explore growth and opportunities in current and new markets across the continent Africa
Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres, highlighted their Pan-African Interconnection partnership to explore opportunities continent-wide. The goal is to add value to local network communities, LINX membership and data centre facilities across Africa.
According to recent research by Accenture into the ICT ecosystem, it was revealed that Africa is on the brink of a tech explosion. The consulting firm says certain countries are on a particularly rapid trajectory. For example, by 2050, the share of the economy powered by the internet (the iGDP) in Kenya, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa will be approximately 6%, similar to where the US is today. While others, like Ghana, are set to reach between 4 to 5% iGDP, comparable to Brazil’s present level.
Data centres are the foundation of economic growth on the continent and without them, sustainable and self-sufficient ICT ecosystems cannot be developed. This is why the company announced the largest expansion plans Africa has ever seen in September 2021, that will see Africa Data Centres investing US$500mn into many new hyperscale data centres across the continent.
“Building new facilities is the one path that Africa can take to address the growing need for storage and networking that are crucial to digitising Africa and bringing digital services to its citizens,” added Durvasula.
Africa Data Centres is Africa’s largest network of interconnected, carrier- and cloud-neutral data centre facilities and currently services nine facilities in six countries, he explains. As leaders in the market, the organisation is constantly announcing new builds in existing markets, as well as plans for facilities in markets that are currently under-serviced or have no facilities at all.
Similarly, LINX are experts in their field of delivering redundant and resilient interconnection solutions at their global Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). “This new partnership is the recipe for great things to enhance connectivity and digital services in new and emerging markets across Africa,” says Durvasula.
Nurani Nimpuno, head of global engagement at LINX, commented, “We are excited to be working with Africa Data Centres on this journey into new markets across Africa. The data centre giant has the largest hub of interconnected facilities on the continent, making it the ideal partner to serve the growth and demand predicted in the ICT sector and opening up fantastic opportunities for countries across Africa, and making digital services a reality for hundreds of millions of citizens.”
