Africa is Undergoing a Revolution in New Cloud and Data Centre Capacity - With Growth Forecast of 80% and 50% Respectively Over the Coming 4-Year Period
Compared with other Data Centre markets around the world, Africa is unique in the sense it has a population of over 1.3 billion people and with a total landmass of 30,365,000 km and has the potential to create huge demand for Data Centres and the digital services provided by Data Centre facilities.
To-date only a small portion of the potential demand for African Data Centre space has been met with Africa having a low Data Centre penetration rate compared with other regions.
This report covers details of the 62 Data Centres with 139 facilities now present in 26 countries out of the total of 53 countries in Africa (See coverage below).
Datacentrepricing forecasts that the African third-party Data Centre market is set to grow rapidly from 2021 onwards although starting from a low installed base.
The report also looks at the CSPs (Cloud Service Providers), to-date AWS and Microsoft have established their services in Africa the number of cloud users in the region is set to grow sharply according to the forecasts.
Geographical coverage of African countries with DC presence
- Algeria
- Angola
- Botswana
- Cameroon
- Chad
- DRC (the Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Djibouti
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- Kenya
- Libya
- Mauritius
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
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Table of Contents
About Data Centre Pricing (DCP)
List of Figures - The Cloud & Data Centre Revolution taking place in Africa
Methodology - The Cloud & Data Centre Revolution taking place in Africa
Executive Summary - Highlights of The Cloud & Data Centre Revolution taking place in Africa
Samples
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Executive Summary
The specialists in Data Centres, have launched ‘The Cloud and Data Centre Revolution in Africa’ report covering 26 countries' across the continent DC activities.
DCP has identified that half of the countries in Africa have now launched third-party Data Centre facilities with total African Data Centre space and power being equivalent to markets in Spain or Switzerland.
The report forecasts that the Southern Africa Region accounts for 54 percent of total third-party African Data Centre raised floor space followed by North Africa being the next largest region. In total DCP forecasts that the overall market for African Data Centre raised floor space will over 140,000 m2 as of the beginning of 2021 with 49 percent of growth overall to the beginning of 2025.
The largest third-party Data Centre facility in Africa is under 10,000 Data Centre raised floor space, much smaller than their Data Centre counterparts in Asia, North America and Europe.
There is a significant investment in new Data Centre facilities, as a number of companies aim to build a Pan African Data Centre network of facilities from 2021. Until recently Africa has lacked Data Centre Providers with a presence in multiple countries - the scene is changing with a number of new private equity investors aiming to build Data Centre networks in Africa.
Carrier-Based Data Centre facilities - owned by a Telecoms Provider - account for almost half of all raised floor space in Africa, but the Carrier Neutral Data Centre segment is increasing and accounts for just under 30 percent of space.
Data Centres are entering new markets including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia. A trend includes facilities being created as PFMs (Pre-Fabricated Modules), as smaller self-contained Data Centres to be used for network, cloud, wholesale and colocation, suitable for local environments.
The African market is being transformed by the introduction of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) including AWS, Microsoft Azure Cloud, Oracle Cloud & HUAWEI CLOUD introducing availability zones located in South Africa - with telecom providers Safaricom & Vodacom now reselling AWS cloud to small businesses. DCP forecasts that African cloud revenues will accelerate by 80 percent over the four-year period to the beginning of 2025.
Data Centre developers face a series of challenges in Africa, including raising finance for facility investment, overcoming legal land ownership issues, securing power, ensuring fibre connectivity, and ensuring that the facility is resilient in the face of weather conditions, heat, and humidity. Additionally, due to intermittent power supply issues, many Data Centre facilities use diesel-generated power for much of the day in developing markets.
Lower priced rack space is now available in South Africa benefitting from multiple Data Centre providers and facilities offering different tiers of service and power which can be adapted to specific customer needs.
Companies Mentioned
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes:
- Actis
- Accenture
- African Data Centre Association (ADCA)
- Africa DataCentres
- Africell (formerly Orange Uganda)
- Airtel
- Algerie Telecom
- Alibaba
- Alphabet (the parent of Google)
- Alcatel Submarine Network (ASN)
- Altron
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Angola Cables
- Angola Telecom
- Angola Communication Systems
- ASA MS Telecom
- Axxess
- Botswana Fibre Networks
- Botswana Telecoms Corporation
- Business Connexion (BCX)
- CAMTEL
- Cegelec
- Cell C
- China Communications
- China International Telecommunications Construction Corporation (CITCC)
- Cloud Exchange West Africa
- COMPOST, the Cameroon Postal service
- Comtel NBN
- Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)
- Convergence Partners Investments
- CSquared
- Dandemutande
- Dark Fibre Africa (DFA)
- Datacentrix
- DataXion
- Deloitte
- Digital Africa Parks
- DimensionData
- Djibouti Telecom
- Djibouti Data Center
- DJIBOUTI INTERNET EXCHANGE (DjIX)
- DRC’s National Post & Telecommunications Company
- East Africa Data Centre (EADC – now part of Africa DataCentres)
- Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP)
- Emtel
- EO Datacenter
- EOH
- Eskom
- Ethio Telecom
- Ethiopia DC (ETDC)
- Etisalat
- Etix
- Evonet
- Fast Brick Holdings
- Fibrecom
- First Distribution
- Galaxy Backbone
- Ghana Internet Exchange
- Gijima
- GlobalConnect
- GPX Global
- Huawei
- IBM
- I-colo
- IFC (International Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of the World Bank)
- Infratel Corporation
- Internet Exchange Pointe Nigeria
- Inwi DC
- Ipn
- Ioco
- IS (Internet Services) Data Centres
- Islalink &. Liquid Telecom
- ITA Data Center
- iWayAfrica
- Kenya Power
- KT Rwanda Networks
- Link Data Center (LDC)
- Loon
- MainOne
- Maroc Telecom
- MedAfrica Systems
- Mettle Solar Africa
- Microsoft
- Mitsui
- Mobinil (Egypt) rebranded to Orange)
- MS Telecom
- MTN
- Mweb
- Ngova Etix
- Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
- The Nigeria Internet Exchange (IXPN)
- N+One
- Northern Africa Power Pool
- NSIA Technologies
- Obsidian
- Ooredoo
- Oracle
- Orange
- Outsourcia
- OVH
- PAIX (Ghana – RackAfrica)
- Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund
- PowerTel
- Rack Centre
- Raxio
- Raya DC
- Rogers Capital
- RSAWEB
- Rwandan Utilities Regulation Authority
- Safaricom
- Seacom
- Silicon Overdrive
- Somtel (Somalia)
- Sonatel Orange
- Southern Africa Power Pool
- Standard Bank
- StorTech
- STC Telco Velocity
- Synthesis
- Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd
- TCM
- Tech Madindra
- Telecom Egypt
- Telkom Kenya
- Telkom South Africa
- Teraco Data Environments
- Tigo
- Tmcel Mozambique
- Trans-Sahara
- T-Systems
- Tunisie Telecom
- Vertiv
- VMware Cloud
- Vodacom
- West Africa Internet Exchange (WAF-IX)
- West African Power Pool (WAPP)
- XON
- Xneelo
- Zambia Information & Communications Technology Authority
- Zesco
- Zircom
- Zuku Fiber
Methodology
The analyst researches its reports typically within a three-month period. All of its reports are based on primary and secondary research including interviews with relevant companies/operators covered in the report. The analyst also draws on its extensive in-house database and its contacts in the field of telecommunications it has established since the company was launched in 2006.
The analyst has 26-years of experience in the field of telecoms pricing both mobile and fixed. They have a network of consultants as well as a multi-lingual research team, with languages spoken French, German, Polish and Spanish.
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