Agility and Diversification
We keep saying it but 2026 really is a pivotal year for the African data centres industry. With recent announcements such as Cassava Technologies partnering with Nvidia to construct an AI factory in South Africa, to the ADCA 2026 Economic Report projecting the value of the African data centres market to grow to $9billion by 2029 – progress is moving faster than anticipated.
On a recent webinar (The African Data Centres Market – the opportunities, challenges and direction of travel) our esteemed panelists gave some real insight into what’s driving this movement across the continent, some surprises that have appeared and what’s on the horizon for 2026 and beyond. You can watch or listen to the full webinar here.
What really struck me, was one of the closing thoughts shared by Menno Parsons, MD, Master Power Technologies and Stephane Duproz, Independent Consultant. Giving their predictions/thoughts on what’s to come Menno expressed his desire for the industry to become more agile. In order for Africa to be seen as a true competitor to its geographical rivals, agility is a must. An agile approach will contribute to resilience in supply chains, power distribution and data centre capacity. The second was Stephane’s view on diversification, particularly when it comes to talent and the need to train people in Africa. These two approaches are being adopted by the industry, somewhat slowly, but they do have the power to transform Africa and place it in the same league as Europe, North America, Asia-Pac and not just as a smaller contender.
As always with our webinars the panellists didn’t get a chance to answer all of the attendees’ questions, therefore we wanted to answer some of the questions that came through.
How do you know that 90% of the data generated in Africa is processed outside the continent?
The majority of Africa’s data centres (at present) are concentrated in Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. This infers that many are offshoring their data with the IFC and GSMA estimatingthat the majority of data generated in Africa is stored outside the continent, mainly in Europe and North America.
What is your view on the number of Data Centre platforms on the continent? Are there too many or too few?
As of 2026 Africa accounts for less than 1% (0.6%) of the global data centre capacity. Yet the potential in Africa is huge. It’s estimated that there are between 220 and 230 data centres across 38 African countries with the ADCA projecting that the market will grow by 2029 to $9billion. The desire now is to move away from the concentrated hubs, developing in new regions where data centres can provide country level and community level benefits.
How do the huge projects for AI data centres in the middle east affect Africa ? Given that the middle east is relatively close to Africa, will this detract capital away from the continent ? Or will these middle east AI factories build edge nodes in Africa ?
Africa is seeing its own investment in AI. Just recently Cassava Technologies announced their partnership with Nvidia on the construction of an AI factory. Nvidia’s AI technology has already been deployed in South Africa so the announcement shows a commitment to building Africa’s AI industry, without reliance on the Middle East.
If data sovereignty is to be meaningful and requires governing the entire digital platform. How do we practically get policymakers to engage with this broader definition rather than focusing only on data centres?
The Malabo Convention (designed in 2014) fully came into effect across Africa in 2023. This continental-wide strategy focuses on cybersecurity, personal data protection and electronic transactions. In addition, 40 countries across Africa have enlisted data protection policies as well as dedicated authorities. The intention is to support and protect data on a personal level, whilst also strengthening legal capacities for digital service providers and investors. It’s fully understood that in order to achieve successful and meaningful data sovereignty ALL stakeholders need to be involved, and what is being seen across Africa is a desire to make this happen.
If you want to continue these conversations and have your chance to put questions to industry leaders and experts then register for the in-person Pan African DataCentres 2026 event and join us in Johannesburg.
(Stats taken from the recently released Data Centres in Africa 2026 Economic Report, ADCA).
