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DATA CENTRES | INTERVIEW
The digital bedrock Damilola Agbaje, investment director for African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) explores why an increasing amount of investment into the continent is being dedicated to developing the digital landscape.
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It is very important to invest in the infrastructure necessary to facilitate quality Internet access.” DAMILOLA AGBAJE, INVESTMENT DIRECTOR FOR AIIM 20
AFRICAN REVIEW OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY | JUNE 2022
The Onix 1 data centre is expected to be the largest operational centre in Ghana.
Image Credit: AIIM
n Africa, the digital landscape is changing. While the continent still lags behind in terms of Internet penetration, it also represents the fastest growing rate as well – according to the World Bank the proportion of sub-Saharan Africans with access to the Internet grew from 18.9% to 28.9% between 2016 and 2019. With a rapidly expanding population and a rise in businesses eager to contend with the international market, digital infrastructure demand is continuing to accelerate and the need for quality service is becoming more acute. This is one of the tailwinds which have encouraged AIIM, a company which started with a focus on core infrastructure, to broaden its attentions and incorporate digital infrastructure. As Agbaje explained, “The growing rate of Internet penetration has been driven by the mobile economy; GSM; and the introduction of 2G, 3G, 4G etc. Between 2010 and 2019 more than 300 million Africans gained access to the Internet and we believe, as African infrastructure investors, there is a real opportunity to support the ecosystem and facilitate a higher quality of access to the Internet.” “With Cloud, big data, AI and IOT consuming a lot of data, it is very important to invest in the infrastructure necessary to facilitate quality Internet access and ensure Africa does not get left behind in today’s digital transformation.” One of the most fundamental pieces of the digital puzzle is data centres and, unfortunately for the continent, it is one that has been underserved. As Agbaje explained, historically much of the content being delivered into sub-
Saharan Africa has either been stored in South Africa or other continents, which has meant that the quality of access for African users and consumers has been subject to latency and is, comparative to much of the globe, poorer. This problem has been exacerbated by applications becoming more advanced and represents an unequal footing for African businesses against international competitors. In order to facilitate a similar quality of access to the Internet and new technologies being developed, servers must be located closer to geographies where the Internet users are actually consuming data, via the introduction of data centres. At this moment in time, Agbaje noted, the continent is at around 250MW of installed capacity but by 2030 it will require around 1200MW. “There is also an increased focus on data protection and data sovereignty and a lot of African governments have passed data protection laws or are planning to do so. This means there is increasing pressure to locate servers in-country, and that is also creating a demand for data centre capacity for countries across the continent.” To meet this demand, there is a number of players entering this space, Agbaje noted, “There are a number of different market participants, each with their own strategies.” “On our end, while we may be opportunistic if the right angle comes along, we are looking beyond some of the well capitalised markets such
as Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Our focus is on Tier 1.5 (Ghana for instance is not quite Tier 1 but is on the fringe) and Tier 2 markets. We are looking at nascent markets where we can have a first mover or a near first mover advantage and where we can work with strong local partners with good enterprise links. Ultimately we want to build a regional footprint that can be marketed to international customers as a portfolio of facilities for partnerships in the future.”
Entry into Ghana AIIM has taken the next step in this pursuit by acquiring a carrier neutral, co-location data centre through the newly incorporated Onix Data Centre platform. The Onix 1 centre is the only Tier IV data centre in Ghana, is located on a onehectare site, is purpose built with two data halls (expandable to four) and is expected to be the largest operational data centre in the country. “Because it is the only Tier IV centre in the country we are providing a service that is unique and not really replicated on a like-forlike basis. We have engagements ongoing with key government agencies that are providing important services to the Ghanaian population, and we are providing them with quality data centre capacity that ensures their data is safe, that they maintain uptime and they can deliver a high quality of consistent service to the population.”
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