IXAfrica Data Centres and Schneider Electric have launched an artificial intelligence (AI) ready hyperscale data center in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to the companies, it is the largest such facility in East Africa.
The data center, known as NBOX1, is a Tier III standard carrier-neutral data center that can support advanced AI workloads, reports ITweb Africa.
According to a Developing Telecoms report, NBOX1 is located at IXAfrica's 4.3-acre Nairobi Campus and has an IT capacity of 4.5MW. The data center houses 780 racks across three data halls.
The campus is expected to eventually reach 22.5MW according to a PeeringDB profile.
The facility uses Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure for Data Centers architecture and solutions, as well as Schneider-provided MV and LV switchgear.
“The solutions provided by Schneider Electric are engineered to support N+1 redundancy with four independent power trains, meeting IXAfrica’s immediate and long-term objectives, including design 1.25 PUE across the campus, as well as a 99.999 percent uptime guarantee,” said Ifeanyi Odoh, Schneider Electric’s country president in East Africa.
IXAfrica's Nairobi campus is on land that was formerly part of a Schneider Electric complex.
The data center campus has been in progress since 2021 and is backed by a $50m investment from Helios.
IXAfrica has also signed an agreement with real estate developer Tilsi Developments to purchase 11 acres for a second data center campus in Nairobi.
"Kenya, is a hypercloud-ready region with advanced cloud adoption propensities, a digitally savvy environment, access to diverse internet fiber connectivity, high availability, and low-carbon power sources," said Snehar Shah, CEO of IXAfrica. "All of this takes place in a country with a stable regulatory and political climate, as well as a strong economy expected to grow by 5.2 percent in 2024.”
This year so far, Kenya has seen plans for a Microsoft and G42 geothermal-powered data center announced, Airtel Africa sharing plans to develop a data center in Nairobi, and Oracle looking to develop a cloud region in the county.
