Africa Data Centres, a
business of Cassava Technologies group, has announced forming a strategic
partnership with the London Internet Exchange (LINX), to explore growth and
opportunities in current and new markets across the
continent of 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,
which will see Africa Data Centres investing $500M 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,” adds 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 says: “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.”
