Top 10: Data Centre Leaders in Africa
The data centre landscape across Africa continues to shift, with the continent representing one of the largest opportunities for investment in the near future.
According to DC Byte, the traditional FLAP-D markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin) are facing land and capacity constraints, leaving room for new markets for hyperscalers and operators to expand into new regions.
Already across Africa, international operators are entering emerging markets with fibre, submarine cables and data centre projects. Particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, connectivity demand across the continent has grown dramatically, with key regional hubs emerging in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and Morocco.
“We continue to see a range of economic growth, regulated framework, infrastructure and technological standards across the African countries, with the investors and operators looking to enter new emerging markets.”
With this in mind, Data Centre Magazine follows 10 of the major data centre leaders currently operating across Africa. The list considers each operator by global standing and their strategic impact on African data centre operations.
10. BCX (Business Connexion)
HQ: Johannesburg, South Africa
CEO: Jonas Bogoshi
Revenue: Approx. US$2.3 billion (FY ending Mar 2023)
Operating data centres across South Africa, BCX is the enterprise ICT division of Telkom SA SOC Ltd. Its services include colocation, cloud and managed offerings, primarily for enterprise clients within the country. The company maintains a significant facility at its Centurion headquarters, providing digital infrastructure solutions to support South African businesses and public sector entities.
Under the leadership of CEO Jonas Bogoshi, BCX continues to expand its influence and impact on the global stage. With a workforce of 6,300 skilled professionals, the company is dedicated to delivering high-quality services and solutions that meet the evolving needs of its clients.
9. Rack Centre
HQ: Lagos, Nigeria
CEO: Lars Johannisson
Revenue: Not disclosed
Based in Lagos, Nigeria, Rack Centre operates a carrier-neutral, Tier III certified data centre. It serves telecommunications carriers, internet service providers (ISPs), cloud providers and various enterprises with colocation services. A majority stake was acquired by investment firm Actis in 2020, which designated Rack Centre as the foundation for a US$50m pan-African data centre platform.
An expansion of its Lagos campus is underway to increase IT capacity, reinforcing its role as an infrastructure hub in Nigeria’s digital economy. Its carrier neutrality enables customers to manage traffic to get better value, lower latency and higher resilience, while also creating an open market for partnerships.
8. Nxtra (Airtel Africa)
HQ: London, UK (Airtel Africa plc)
CEO: Olusegun Ogunsanya (Airtel Africa plc)
Revenue: US$5.25bn (FY ending Mar 2023)
Nxtra represents the data centre interests of Airtel Africa plc. Leveraging the parent company's footprint across 14 African nations, Nxtra is constructing a 38MW hyperscale facility in Lagos, Nigeria, targeting completion in early 2026.
The company is also targeting future developments, including a potential 7MW site in Nairobi, Kenya. Expanding its operations in this way signifies Airtel Africa's entry into the high-capacity data centre segment to meet demand from global cloud providers and large enterprises.
7. Raxio Group
HQ: Kampala, Uganda
CEO: Robert Skjødt
Revenue (Most Recent FY): Not publicly disclosed
Focusing on establishing Tier III certified, carrier-neutral facilities outside Africa's primary data centre hubs, Raxio Group operates across the continent and is one of the leading carrier-neutral data centre operators in Africa. The company has operational or developing sites in Uganda, Ethiopia, DRC, Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Angola and Tanzania.
Raxio Group builds infrastructure designed to provide colocation and connectivity, aiming to foster digital economies in these specific African markets. With this in mind, the company has secured funding from investors such as Meridiam, Roha Group and the IFC to support its multi-country expansion.
6. OADC (Open Access Data Centres)
HQ: Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius (Parent company WIOCC Group)
CEO: Ayotunde Coker
Revenue (Most Recent FY): Not Publicly Disclosed
Open Access Data Centres (OADC) deploys a network of carrier-neutral core and edge data centres across Africa. As part of the WIOCC Group, OADC utilises WIOCC's extensive fibre network and operates facilities including sites in Lagos, Nigeria and Durban, South Africa, promoting an open-access model.
Supported by WIOCC's infrastructure and investment, OADC plans further expansion to improve digital infrastructure reach for content distribution, cloud access and 5G support across the continent.
5. NTT Global Data Centers
HQ: London, UK (Parent company Tokyo, Japan)
CEO: Abhijit Dubey
Revenue (Most Recent FY): JPY 13.1 trillion (approx. US$95bn, FY ending Mar 2023)
As one of the largest global data centre providers, NTT Global Data Centers operates over 150 data centres in more than 20 countries and regions. It offers local-to-global data center expertise, aligned with its connected platform of AI-ready data centres, to create solutions that enable clients to seamlessly scale their digital businesses.
NTT Global Data Centers offers a globally connected data centre platform that consists of colocation facilities, state-of-the-art security, high-density and cost-effective carrier-neutral connectivity. One of the critical places it operates is South Africa, with its data centres in five of its provinces: Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and the Free State.
4. Africa Data Centres (ADC)
HQ: Johannesburg, South Africa
CEO: Finhai Munzara (Interim)
Revenue (Most Recent FY): Not Publicly Disclosed (Private Company, part of Cassava Technologies)
Africa Data Centres (ADC) operates Africa's most extensive network of interconnected, carrier- and cloud-neutral facilities, as part of Cassava Technologies. The company runs its operations Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and Lagos, with ongoing continental expansion.
Its key internet exchanges (JINX, CINX, KIXP) are hosted within its sites and offer direct cloud provider connectivity. Likewise, its data centres are designed, built and operated to a very high standard so that businesses are supported no matter their requirements. Its facilities are purpose-built and entirely owned and operated by Africa Data Centres.
3. Vantage Data Centers
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
CEO: Sureel Choksi
Revenue (Most Recent FY): Not Publicly Disclosed (Private Company)
Vantage Data Centers is a hyperscale data centre solutions leader, which offers scalable, energy-efficient infrastructure for cloud providers, enterprises and more. Vantage is dedicated to sustainability and expanding on its operational excellence. It receives strong backing from investors like DigitalBridge, enabling it to focus on sustainable construction and operations for hyperscale customers.
Currently, the company is developing a large, multi-phase campus in Johannesburg, South Africa. The initial Johannesburg facility is said to provide substantial capacity, with significant expansion planned to accommodate large cloud and enterprise deployments. Vantage is also planning to expand further into Egypt to target hyperscale cloud growth.
2. Digital Realty
HQ: Austin, Texas, USA (Digital Realty) & Johannesburg, South Africa (Teraco)
CEO: Andy (Digital Realty); Jan Hnizdo (Teraco)
Revenue (Most Recent FY): US$5.48bn (FY2023, Digital Realty)
Following its 2022 acquisition of Teraco Data Environments, Digital Realty has held a major position in Africa. Teraco, Africa's largest single data centre operator, manages extensive campuses in Johannesburg and Cape Town. These sites offer colocation and dense connectivity to networks, cloud on-ramps and subsea cables
Digital Realty is expanding this platform, including AI-ready facilities like JB7 and operates in Kenya, Nigeria and Mozambique. It has plans to further expand connectivity across Africa, particularly after the launch of its HER1 campus in Crete.
1. Equinix
HQ: Redwood City, California, US
CEO: Adaire Fox-Martin
Revenue (Most Recent FY): US$8.19bn (FY2023)
As one of the world's leading data centre companies, Equinix first entered the African market when it acquired MainOne for US$320m in 2022. Establishing this significant presence in West Africa means that the company has been able to scale its colocation, cloud connectivity and interconnection services worldwide.
Equinix is also investing US$160m in its JN1 facility in Johannesburg, South Africa, integrating key African hubs into its worldwide platform. The company also has sites in Accra in Ghana, Lagos in Nigeria and Muscat in Oman.
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