South Africa Leads Africa's Data Centre Race Amid Challenges

South Africa is currently leading Africa's data centre race with 56 data centres and approximately 350 megawatts of capacity, accounting for about 70% of the continent's data centre capacity. This lead has been established over more than a decade through investments from global operators such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

In contrast, Nigeria is still expanding its capacity, with Lagos having around 78.6 megawatts of installed data-centre capacity and a projected increase to over 218 megawatts by 2030. Despite this growth, Nigeria's progress appears to lag behind South Africa's established base.

Recent investments highlight this trend, with South Africa securing a $438 million investment plan from Equinix for an additional 160 megawatts, while Kenya has ambitious projects like the Microsoft-G42 initiative targeting a geothermal-powered facility. The article emphasizes that the real competition lies in the reliability of electricity grids, as the country that can maintain consistent power supply will ultimately prevail in the data centre race.