Equinix has appointed Sandile Dube as its new managing director in South Africa.
Dube will be responsible for working with local and multinational companies to establish Equinix's new JN1 International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Johannesburg.
The IBX data center is currently set to launch in mid-2024 and marks Equinix's entrance into the South African market.
Dube is joining Equinix from Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) where he was was managing director of South Africa.
Dube said of his new position: "Equinix is committed to accelerating a digital Africa and expanding the global footprint to connect Europe and the world to the African continent. I’m proud to have joined such a significant global business as its managing director of South Africa. South Africa is an amazing country with a remarkable opportunity to accelerate its digital ambitions creating global investment and international trade."
Equinix began moving into Africa in 2021 with its acquisition of MainOne for $320m (at the time). With the acquisition, Equinix gained four data centers in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cote d'Ivoire.
In December 2022, Equinix announced that it was developing a data center in Johannesburg. JN1 will have 4MW of capacity across 20,000 sq ft of data center space in its first phase, expanding to 20MW at full build-out.
