Samrand facility in Johannesburg is set to undergo an expansion project that will see its IT load increase from 10MW to 40MW. Recently, Africa Data Centres announced that it had cut the sod for the start of the works.Â
The CEO of Africa Data Centres, Tesh Durvasula, explained that the expansion project will take place in multiple phases. The first phase of construction, according to him, has already begun. This is expected to deliver 20MW by 2023 across eight data halls. An additional 10MW of IT load will be included in the next phase by the end of 2025.
The infrastructure is expected to be fully modular with all off-site prefabricated critical plant rooms. Eventually, the company said, it would expand its capacity for IT load to 100MW in Johannesburg. According to Durvasula, that is a milestone in the company’s plans to expand. The plans were made known in September and they are Africa’s most ambitious plans ever.
Expansion of Samrand facility in Johannesburg is a part of larger Africa Data Centres expansion plans
As part of its expansion plans, Africa Data Centres will construct large hyper-scale data centers across Africa. The centers will be constructed in the five major data center markets. These markets include Morocco, Kenya, Tunisia, Egypt, and South Africa.
According to Durvasula, the plan is expected to cost approximately US$ 500M. Additionally, he said it is expected to enable Africa Data Centres to construct several interconnected, cloud-and carrier-neutral data centers in Africa. Furthermore, he said that it will double its existing footprint on the continent as they look to support Africa realize its objectives of digital transformation.
South Africa is one of the most significant data center markets in Africa and a gateway for smaller neighboring markets. Breaking ground for the Africa Data Centers facilities in Johannesburg is, therefore, a crucial part of the expansion plans.
