IBTC Data Centre Academy Brings Its Talent-Pipeline Model to Kenya, Signing iXAfrica and IMEX as East Africa Delivery Partners

9 September 2026  ·  Nairobi, Kenya

The International Business Training College (IBTC), through its Data Centre Academy, today formalised its expansion into Kenya at ITW & Datacloud Africa in Nairobi, signing iXAfrica Data Centre and IMEX as East African delivery partners alongside the Africa Data Centres Association (ADCA), Schneider Electric University and DC Elite. The Academy’s certification pathway draws on Schneider Electric University and EPI/EXIN certification. The signing anchors Kenya’s participation in the Digital Investment Facility (DIF), a European Union co-funded programme to grow – not simply certify – the continent’s data centre workforce.

Most data centre training certifies people already working on-site. DIF was designed to fund the part of the pipeline the commercial market won’t: building a bridge from recent engineering and telecoms graduates – who have the technical aptitude but no visibility into the industry – into data centre careers they didn’t know existed. IBTC is already delivering this model commercially in South Africa and Nigeria, and has separately trained and certified an entire operator workforce in Qatar to establish a baseline standard of certification across live sites. Kenya is the next territory in building a single, replicable model for the continent.

“Every territory we enter starts with the same question: where is the talent, and how do we build the bridge to it? In Kenya, that bridge runs through iXAfrica’s live environment and IMEX’s equipment – so graduates aren’t just certified on paper, they’re job-ready on day one.”

— Nikki Maritz, Chief Executive Officer, IBTC

HOW THE KENYA DELIVERY WORKS

As in IBTC’s other territories, delivery follows the DCCA I and DCCA II pathway: DCCA I, built on Schneider Electric University’s curriculum, covers infrastructure, power, cooling, controls, security and risk; DCCA II builds toward EPI/EXIN’s globally recognised CDCA® certification. In Kenya, iXAfrica has nominated an initial cohort of five technical staff onto the pathway, which includes three-week practical placement on live equipment.

“Training on live infrastructure, not just theory, is what makes graduates job-ready. That’s the value we bring to this partnership.”
— Snehar Shah, Chief Executive Officer, iXAfrica Data Centre

IMEX contributes OEM equipment access and hands-on training capacity for the practical component – the piece of data centre training that a classroom or simulation cannot replicate. ADCA convenes the programme’s industry governance, and DC Elite manages the recruitment and placement pipeline that carries graduates from certification into employment.

“Critical power systems can’t be learned from a textbook. Giving this cohort hands-on time on real OEM equipment is exactly the gap this programme closes.”
— Shinu Vattathara, Managing Director, IMEX (Imexolutions Ltd)

A WIDER ECOSYSTEM, ON STAGE IN NAIROBI

The signing follows IBTC’s presentation, “Growing the DC Talent Pool – an African Context,” on the Datacloud Keynote Stage at ITW & Datacloud Africa on 9 September. IBTC, ADCA, DC Elite, Schneider Electric University, IMEX and iXAfrica took part in a joint signing to mark the collaboration – a visible signal of the operator, OEM, certification and placement ecosystem now required to close Africa’s data centre skills gap at scale.

IBTC’s Data Centre Academy is open to new partners across East Africa. Operators looking to certify existing technical staff, sponsor emerging talent, host interns, or build a structured graduate pipeline into their facilities are invited to contact IBTC using the details below.

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ABOUT IBTC

IBTC is a trusted, accredited South African tuition provider offering globally recognised qualifications in finance, business and professional certifications since 2006. Its Data Centre Academy is the continent’s flagship workforce-development programme for the data centre industry, built on a “source, train, place” model and delivered with content and certification partners Schneider Electric University and EPI/EXIN. IBTC is already delivering data centre training in South Africa, Nigeria and Qatar, and is building out its Africa-wide model with Kenya as the latest territory, supported by the EU-funded Digital Investment Facility.

ABOUT IXAFRICA DATA CENTRE

iXAfrica Data Centre is East Africa’s first hyperscale, carrier-neutral data centre operator, headquartered at its flagship campus on Mombasa Road, Nairobi, Kenya. Established in 2021 and majority-owned by Helios Investment Partners since December 2022, the company is developing a multi-phase campus (NBOX1.1, NBOX1.2, NBOX2 and NBOX3) with a planned capacity exceeding 50MW of IT load, making it one of the largest digital infrastructure hubs on the continent. iXAfrica offers colocation, connectivity, bespoke data halls and cloud on-ramp services to hyperscalers, enterprises and internet companies expanding into the East African market, and has hosted global partners including Oracle Cloud. Its scale and regional reach make it a natural host site for practical, on-the-job data centre training.

ABOUT IMEX

IMEX (Imexolutions Ltd) is a Nairobi-based electrical engineering, automation and power solutions provider, established in 2009 and based on Mombasa Road, Kenya. The company is East Africa’s only certified EcoStruxure PME and Critical Power EcoXpert partner for Schneider Electric, giving it deep OEM-level expertise in the power distribution and critical power systems that underpin modern data centres. Ranked among Kenya’s Top 100 mid-sized companies by KPMG and the Nation Media Group, IMEX brings hands-on technical and engineering capability to the practical training component of the DCCA programme, giving learners direct exposure to OEM-standard power and automation equipment.

ECOSYSTEM PARTNERS

—  Africa Data Centres Association (ADCA) — the continent’s industry association, convening the Kenya programme’s Steering Committee.

—  DC Elite — IBTC’s recruitment and placement partner, carrying graduates from certification into employer interviews.

—  Schneider Electric University — content and certification provider for the DCCA I curriculum.

—  EPI/EXIN — certification provider for the DCCA II / CDCA® pathway.

MEDIA CONTACT

Nikki Maritz, Chief Executive Officer

IBTC — International Business Training College

Email: nikki@ibtc.co.za   ·   Phone: +27 83 300 7674   ·   Web: ibtc.co.za