Africa Data Centres has
announced that it will shortly start construction on its newly acquired land in
the Central Business District of Accra, Ghana. The new facility has been
designed for an initial 10MW, which can expand to 30MW depending on demand. It
will be the largest facility in West Africa, outside Nigeria.
Data centres are the foundation
of digitally-led economic growth around the world; developing sustainable and
self-sufficient ecosystems is impossible without them. The new facility will be
built on a part of the former Trade Fair showgrounds site, one of the key
central locations in the city. The first phase is scheduled to be completed
within 12 months.
This new
facility is part of Africa Data Centres’ continental expansion plans spanning
10 of Africa’s major economic hubs, including South Africa, Zambia, Kenya,
Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Angola. This unrivalled
expansion, partly funded by the United States government’s U.S. International
Development Finance Corporation (DFC), is a significant initiative to
accelerate private sector-led digital infrastructure and services in Africa
"We continue to bring internationally recognised
services and products through Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Africa Data
Centres. Liquid already has the largest cross-border fibre network in Africa,
and our data centres footprint expansion compliments this, enabling faster
digital transformation on the continent," says Hardy Pemhiwa, Group CEO for Liquid Intelligent
Technologies.
Mr. Scott Nathan,
CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)said, “DFC is proud to support African Data
Centres. This new facility in Accra will be an investment in critical
infrastructure helping to better link the rapidly growing African population
and market to global opportunities. DFC’s commitment to strengthen ICT
Infrastructure in West Africa is in keeping with the commitments President
Biden made to mobilize private capital for the kind of high-quality global
infrastructure investments that improve peoples’ lives. This new data centre
will help accomplish that in Ghana and for the region, creating jobs by
improving existing business conditions while at the same time attracting
data-dependent companies looking to invest and expand their operations.”
The US Government’s
Senior Advisor Mr. Amos Hochstein said, “This
investment exemplifies the U.S. Government’s commitment under the Partnership
for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) to unlock public and private
capital for sustainable infrastructure investment. Alongside the data centres
in South Africa and Kenya, the Ghana data centre is laying the groundwork for a
digital revolution on the continent.
Welcoming the new
investment, Hon. Nana Akufo-Addo, The President of Ghana said, “The establishment of Africa Data Centre’s
new 10MW data centre, in the heart of Accra, is a significant step towards
bridging the infrastructure gap and developing further our digital economy.
This investment and the Government’s drive at digitising all sectors of the economy
will enable us to increase our capacity to access digital services, and help even
more to attract foreign direct investment into our economy.”
"Our new data
centre in Ghana is a significant step towards Africa Data Centres' goal of
narrowing the digital divide in the West Africa region. Hyper-scale data
centres, preferred by major US tech companies, multinational corporations,
banks, and other local enterprises, are the speciality of Africa Data Centres.
Additionally, our data centres are supported with independent solar and battery
storage power, enabling us to bring digital technologies whilst mitigating our
environmental impact,” concluded Tesh
Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres.
By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
