Equinix, a data centre company, based in the United States, intends to invest $160 million in developing its first African data centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to Bloomberg, the facility is scheduled to open in mid-2024, according to the company’s EMEA president Eugene Bergen.
The move follows Equinix’s $320 million acquisition of Nigeria’s MainOne in 2021. The American multinational’s Africa entry point was MainOne, which was known for its landmark submarine cable and an impressive slate of data centres in West Africa. However, it appears that South Africa was its primary target.
Per Bergen said South Africa was a “big target” for the company as it is the most developed economy in sub-Saharan Africa, adding that they are focusing on getting into Africa and are looking at another five or six countries to enter.
The company hopes to capitalize on the growing number of young Africans with internet access, which is boosting the industry. With its South African data centre, the company hopes to serve large enterprises in the country and across the continent, such as banks, content and media companies, and hyper-scalers. According to Bergen, Equinix is looking for anchor customers that it can potentially follow in other African countries.
The global data centre investor joins tech behemoths such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft in investing in African data centres in recent years as demand for storage and cloud computing grows.
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