The Kenyan Treasury has set aside Sh5.2 billion for the construction of a new data center in Konza Technopolis. Additionally, other facilities have been budgeted for in the fiscal year starting July. This marks a 30-fold increase in the allocation to the project compared to the current budget, Sh170 million apportioned in the current financial year.
Services offered by the new center
The new data centre will help alleviate the increasing demand for cloud computing services and digital transformation. It will also edge computing applications across multiple sectors in the economy. Services offered by the facility will include Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). Government and private companies are set to benefit from all three of these services.
The project is owned by the government who hasn’t released information about the project team. The facility is aimed to centralise shared IT operations and equipment. The equipment is used to store, process and disseminate data and applications. This will help organizations to sort large amounts of data remotely. Two years ago, officials announced that the city will host East Africa’s biggest data centre with a capacity of 1.6 petabytes.
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Funding for the new Konza Data Center
Funding for the project will be as follows: The majority of funds, Sh4.95 billion, will be paid for from appropriations in aid. Sh205 will be paid for through federal taxes. The Treasure however indicated that the amount allocated to the project will reduce in the following years. By the period ending June 2026, it will be Sh150 million. In 2027, the figure will then rise to Sh200 million.
Some major investors in the data centre space locally are Pan African IX Data Centres Kenya Limited (PAIX), Africa Data Centres (ADC), icolo.io and IX Africa.
PAIX data center expansion in Accra
PAIX, earlier this week, announced that it would be expanding its existing data centre in Accra to 1.2 MW. This is an attempt to critically boost the digital economy and spur job creation in the country. Currently the PAIX facility is the largest in Ghana. The company claims that the expansion comes at a crucial time due to the demand for reliable and scalable data centres in Africa is expected to exceed supply by 300% over the next two years.
The expansion will help internet service providers (ISPs), cloud providers and enterprises take full advantage of robust digital infrastructure and improved connectivity. This will have a domino effect as online businesses such as e-commerce that will thrive in the digital era.
The company also suggests that the current total capacity of 250 MW will need to be significantly increased to 1,200 MW by 2030. They want to meet the rapidly increasing demand for data. According to industry estimates, consumption expected to rise by 40% each year until 2025.
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More on PAIX
PAIX Data Centres acquired its first facility in Accra in 2018. It constructed its second data centre in Kenya in 2020. Further locations, such as the Djibouti location, are under development. The company recently announced a joint venture with the Djibouti Sovereign Fund for the construction of the new center.
“PAIX’s investment in our ACC-1 data center positions it as the leading network hub that is created by the aggregation of multiple undersea cable landing points connecting to terrestrial cables. This makes Accra a highly attractive gateway to West Africa,” said Wouter van Hulten, CEO of PAIX Data Centres.
“This expansion reaffirms our dedication to providing best-in-class data center solutions to our customers in Accra and beyond. As one of Africa’s digital economy hotspots, Accra plays a vital role in driving innovation and growth across various industries,” Bright Tawiah, MD at PAIX in Ghana stated.
