THURSDAY, 14th October, 2021: Oxford Business Group (OBG) has disclosed that about 700 new facilities are required to meet the rising demand for Data Centre (DC) services and put capacity density on a par.
According to reports from OBG, Africa has 140,000 sq metres of DC space shared among a little more than 100 DCs, and what this means is that Africa is currently underserved in terms of Data Centre (DC) capacity, accounting for one per cent of the global total.
OBG who disclosed this in its Data Centres in Africa Focus Report added that efforts to bridge this capacity gap will drive the continent’s market expansion at a compound yearly growth rate of 12 per cent between 2019 and 2025, which will bring it to a value of $3 billion.
This action according to the group would make the operation and provision of DCs a highly profitable enterprise in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and other parts of the continent.
This report also claimed that the size of the African DC market by investment was $2 billion in 2020, and expected to reach $5 billion by 2026, while expanding at a CAGR of 15 per cent from 2021 to 2026.
The report observed that as the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, financing is likely to remain constrained for mid- to high-risk initiatives, including DC operations in Africa. It, however, noted that securing real estate and reliable sources of power, in addition to navigating complex policy and security environments would likely raise costs and necessitate support from operatives in each jurisdiction.
To overcome some of these challenges, OBG advised that Africa can emulate economies such as China by deploying leapfrog technologies and avoiding problems related to legacy systems and interests. It stressed that with the combination of regional cooperation and corporate leadership, and engagement with international standard-setting bodies, Africa can establish continent-wide standards that nurture an energy-efficient, sustainable DC industry.