Apr 06, 2023 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
In order to establish Africa's first data center hub, West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) will invest $500 million over the course of the next five years in the construction of data centers there. Africa's data center market size by investment was estimated at $2 billion in 2020 and is projected to increase to $5 billion by 2025, according to a report by industry researcher ReportLinker. Yet, fewer than 1% of the world's data centers are located in Africa, which is a significant issue for the continent's authorities. WIOCC views this as a chance to advance the industry.
Open Access, a division of WIOCC, has already constructed 30 edge data centers in South Africa. The users and the devices they employ to gather and send data are situated closer to edge data centers. They can provide lower latency data processing than core data centers while being smaller and less powerful than such facilities. In addition to deploying more than 20 additional core data centers in key areas throughout the continent, WIOCC intends to reproduce South Africa's 30 edge data centers in Lagos, Nigeria.
WIOCC is presently building its biggest data center project to date in Lagos, Nigeria. It will accommodate up to 20MW site power load across more than 7,200m2 of white space, making the $200 million Tier III certified data center one of the biggest facilities on the continent outside of South Africa. It will be adequate for up to 3,275 racks when it is completely functional. When market demand increases, the site power load is completely expandable to 40MW. The edge data centers that WIOCC intends to install in other regions of the country and West Africa will receive assistance from the Lagos data center.
Moreover, WIOCC offers a minimum seven-tier security stage along with a security provision for clients who could need individualized security. With the hosting of 2Africa by Meta (the old Facebook) and Google's Equiano cable in Nigeria in its Durban data center, the corporation is making unheard-of advancements. It is expanding its infrastructure to host submarine cables that have already reached the coast of West Africa, offering colocation space and seamless, ultra-reliable access to brand-new global subsea networks.
