Africa is being called the next frontier of the global data centre industry. According to the International Telecommunications Union, demand for data centres on the continent has doubled since 2016, with Africa currently requiring at least 700 new data centres to meet connectivity needs over the medium term.
Encouragingly, investment in the African data centre market is on the rise, with major players like Equinix, Amazon Web Services, and NTT Global Data Centers making significant investments. But insufficient infrastructure investment has long stymied development across the continent, and current investments in data centres and digital infrastructure more broadly fall well short of demand. How can we plug this financing gap? How can the continent’s national grids be strengthened to support this growing demand for data centres and is there a need for a comprehensive regulatory framework? What are the possible implications of rising data nationalism and data localisation on Africa’s data centre landscape? These are just some of the pressing questions we hope to tackle through this event.
Moderator
Partner | KPMG East Africa
Speakers
New Client Acquisition & Product Led Growth Leader, MEA | IBM
Managing Director, Microsoft Africa Development Centre | Microsoft
Regional Director, sub-Saharan Africa, Government Affairs & Public Policy | Google
Chief Executive Officer | IX Africa Data Centre