Nairobi — Pan-African data center Africa Data Centres is expanding its Sameer facility in Nairobi by up to 15 megawatts (MW) of IT load.

The firm has secured a piece of land adjacent to its existing data centre to expand the facility.

It expects the new facility to be completed in the first half of 2024, bringing five times more than the current capacity.

"Colocation has become the foundation of African digital transformation and will be for the foreseeable future," Cassava Technologies Group President & CEO Hardy Pemhiwa said.

"Our investment into expanding our data centre operations in Kenya is in line with the increasing demand that we are experiencing due to the significant increase in the adoption of digital services in the East African region."

The new centre will begin with 5MW of IT load and it be built on the company's modular design, including all critical plant rooms, prefabricated off-site to ensure the highest possible quality.

Local contractors will be used to lay foundations, assemble, and complete the build.

"We do not use water in any of our cooling systems and are one of the few colocation providers who have taken this step," Africa Data Centres CEO Tesh Durvasula said.

"Although many believe water and adiabatic systems are more efficient than air cooling systems, this is not the case. With the newest technology, if free-cooling capacity is maximised, it becomes far more efficient and saves water which is becoming a scarce commodity."

Additionally, the expansion will allow Africa Data Centre clients to grow and scale depending on their requirements.

They can start small, increase to a medium capacity, and even benefit from a hyperscale type of deployment in a few years if they choose to.

"This is very reassuring for customers, as it brings a lot of synergies by enabling them to operate multiple deployments across Africa Data Centres sites with a single operations team and a campus and infrastructure they are familiar with," says Durvasula.

Customers will also benefit from fast access to the cloud and managed services within the diverse ecosystem and increased external network options, thanks to Africa Data Centres' extensive connectivity partners.