Despite global economic headwinds in 2024, the African tech landscape, particularly its burgeoning data centre sector, demonstrates resilience and a keen focus on future opportunities. 1 In this exclusive interview, Dr. Krishnan Ranganath, Regional Executive West Africa at Africa Data Centres, shares insightful perspectives on how the continent is adapting to rapid technological advancements like AI and cloud computing, the strategic priorities for sustained competitiveness in 2025, and the crucial role of collaboration and government support in accelerating Africa’s data centre expansion – with a specific focus on the dynamic Nigerian market
How did 2024’s global economic challenges affect the tech industry, particularly from your perspective in Africa?
2024, a year of significant uncertainty globally, also had its share of challenges for Africa. However, we chose to take these challenges as learning opportunities—making the necessary adjustments and finding ways to adapt and move forward. In the tech industry, change is constant; each day brings something new. We saw the rise of Nvidia and AI, and now, overnight, we’re discussing Deepseek. As a tech professional, it’s crucial to stay adaptable and embrace global changes while exploring how to apply them locally and regionally. Technology continues to evolve daily, infiltrating our personal lives and promising more advancement throughout the year. These developments are likely to create significant employment opportunities across various sectors.
What strategic priorities should the tech industry focus on in 2025 to stay competitive?
Amid a rapidly changing technological landscape, companies are navigating the transformative power of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). A striking 85% of businesses report that adopting AI has already improved productivity. McKinsey notes that companies using AI extensively can increase their cash flow by 122% over five years. These innovations are reshaping industry frameworks and altering competitive dynamics—startups leveraging blockchain technology are disrupting financial services and attracting substantial funding. This shift compels established players to rethink strategies, invest in digital transformation, and adapt to new consumer expectations driven by rapid technological advancements. Looking at 2025, AI is at the centre of global conversations, supported by big data, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, which play a critical role in the tech ecosystem.
What trends are shaping data centre adoption in Africa amid the rise of cloud and AI?
As the drive to develop artificial intelligence and related technologies grows, so does the demand for data processing capacity—fuelling a data centre boom across Africa, despite infrastructure challenges. In recent years, investment in African data centres has increased, though not at the same scale as in more established economies. Since 2022, new carrier-neutral data centres have been commissioned, with more in the pipeline. Key construction activity is underway in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. These developments are supported by efforts to improve regulatory frameworks, energy infrastructure, and connectivity—while also promoting digital transformation, cloud adoption, and addressing the skills gap. However, the continent still lags behind global benchmarks, accounting for less than 2% of the world’s co-location data centre supply. Notably, more than half of this capacity is concentrated in South Africa, according to the Africa Data Centres Association. Currently, cloud services for Africa are largely served from South Africa and Europe. As demand rises, we’re seeing the emergence of local cloud regions in Nigeria and Kenya, with further expansion expected in Morocco, Egypt, and other countries.
What are the best ways for industry stakeholders to collaborate and accelerate data centre adoption in Africa?
Among African data centre operators, we have five to six key players. Collaboration should focus on capacity sharing across locations and real-time communication regarding available resources. Initiatives like the Africa Data Centres Association (ADCA) are gaining traction, and we expect greater clarity on collaborative strategies moving forward. We also need to prioritise human capacity building and enhanced network connectivity between data centres. This will simplify client operations across multiple providers and drive a more integrated infrastructure ecosystem.
What role should governments play in accelerating Africa’s data centre expansion?
Take Nigeria as an example—regulatory bodies like the NDPC and NITDA play pivotal roles in driving data centre growth. When governments advocate for digitalisation and data localisation, the local cloud and data centre industries benefit significantly. A major opportunity lies in repatriating African government data—over 75% is currently hosted outside the continent. Bringing this data back home would be a substantial driver for local industry, demonstrating leadership from the front. Additionally, governments should consider reducing customs tariffs on data centre-related imports. While free zones exist, most are located outside city limits—areas where clients typically prefer data centres to be.
“A major opportunity lies in repatriating African government data—over 75% is currently hosted outside the continent. Bringing this data back home would be a substantial driver for local industry, demonstrating leadership from the front.”
Do you see a substantial market opportunity for data centres in Nigeria?
The Nigerian data centre market presents significant growth opportunities, driven by increasing cloud adoption, digitalisation, and the need for secure and scalable data storage. The market size is estimated at 136.7 MW in 2025 and is expected to reach 279.4 MW by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 15.37%. Additionally, colocation revenue is projected to increase from USD 251.1 million in 2025 to USD 578.1 million by 2030, reflecting a CAGR of 18.15%. Data localisation initiatives and digital transformation efforts are driving profound changes in the Nigerian data centre market, with government emphasis on local data hosting leading to increased domestic investments.
“The Nigerian data centre market presents significant growth opportunities, driven by increasing cloud adoption, digitalisation, and the need for secure and scalable data storage.”