Africa Data Centres To Become The First East African, EDGE® Certified Facility

Africa Data Centres, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, is pleased to announce that it is adding 1MW of capacity to its Data Centre facility in Nairobi, Kenya. The build began in mid-June. It will take an estimated 40 weeks to complete and will be the region's first EDGE certified data center.

EDGE certification is a green building certification system for emerging markets created by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. It is a quantifiable way for developers to optimize designs, leading to a more marketable product and a better investment while promoting sustainability simultaneously. EDGE certification also helps keep certification localized, fast and inexpensive to encourage more green construction by enabling developers to certify projects at a comparatively lower cost.

The announcement comes on the back of the expansion announcement that Africa Data Centres made in November last year around building two more data centers in the region for approximately $200 million. At the time, the company said it had begun the development of its second Data Centre of up to 20MW of IT load and was securing land for a third facility.

According to Dan Kwach, Managing Director, Africa Data Centres, "East Africa Region is one of the Africa Data Centres' key markets as there is a skyrocketing- demand for data centers in the region. The demand for digital technologies has accelerated as businesses of every type and size in Africa move to quicken their digital transformation journeys. The immediate 1MW facility is a key part of this expansion as Kenya is a critical African market in terms of being at the vanguard of hyperscale Data Centre demand and digital transformation in East Africa".

The construction of the new facility will play a significant role in job creation. One of Africa Data Centres' missions is to promote job creation, partner with local companies to build facilities, strengthen the economy, and promote social growth in all the regions of operations.

The expansion sits within the already Tier III Certified environment, known as the East Africa Data Centre facility. The Sameer site is in the Sameer Business Park, the country's capital.