IT in Manufacturing


African data centres: if you build it, they will come

I&C July 2024 IT in Manufacturing

We all need some good news. In a time where the world is facing a myriad of challenges, be it financial, geopolitical or environmental, growth and development certainly equate to good news.

Africa’s data centre market is growing at an unprecedented rate, driven by a soaring demand for digital services, artificial intelligence (AI), crypto currencies and cloud computing. According to recent statistics, the data centre market is projected to reach over $7 billion by 2028, at a compound annual growth rate of 7% .

This is good news indeed, as Africa’s burgeoning digital landscape also presents significant opportunities for investors, technology companies and local businesses. However there’s a caveat, data centre planners must ensure that these facilities are built with the continent’s power provision, local economy and geographical challenges in mind.


Ben Selier, vice president: secure power, Anglophone Africa at Schneider Electric.

Local knowledge is power

Current data centres are positioned in a crowded market where supply often exceeds short-term demand. This means that local suppliers often have to meet the extremely complex requirements of mammoth hyperscalers, which can be prohibitively expensive and in some instances simply inaccessible.

In order for the African data centre market to flourish, local business expertise must be utilised. For one, local providers understand the financial constraints and specific needs of African businesses and can offer tailored solutions at more affordable prices. Similarly, by catering to the budgets and requirements of local enterprises and SMEs, these providers can tap into a much broader customer base and achieve more sustainable growth.

Another important step is considering the physical data centre facility. Existing buildings like older factories or railroad buildings can be repurposed, and intelligent software solutions implemented to optimise resource management and operations while driving down costs.

From an energy management perspective, these buildings can be retrofitted with load balancing features, service optimisation and adaptive power allocation, which can enhance the efficiency of facilities while ensuring optimal performance during peak usage periods.

Prefabricated modular data centres are also a compelling alternative solution to the African data centre market. They offer a dynamic response to the need for rapid deployment, standardisation, and sustainability. As the name suggests, these data centres consist of pre-built modules that house various components critical to data centre functionality. The modules fall into categories such as power, cooling and IT.

A major advantage of prefabricated data centres is the efficiency and predictability they bring to the construction process. Unlike traditional data centres, where one must contend with the variability of handling material and availability, prefabricated data centres can be produced in local, controlled factory environments.

The sustainability balancing act

As mentioned earlier, power provision is a significant stumbling block in the proliferation of data centres in Africa. While not a challenge unique to the continent, data centre providers will have to be prudent when planning facilities and their expected power consumption.

Even if a country’s grid infrastructure can handle new capacity demands, it is facing another challenge: decarbonisation. In the US, for example, new sustainability standards targeted at data centres are currently under consideration or have been enacted.

Also, let us not forget power reliability. The 2022 Uptime Report on IT downtime found that the cost of downtime continues to grow:

• One out of five data centres experienced a serious or severe outage in the last three years, and 80% of all data centres experienced some type of outage.

• 60% of data centre outages cost at least $10 000, while outages costing over $1 million grew from 11 to 15% in just three years.

This scenario is prevalent across the globe, and Africa is not an exception. Fortunately, when building data centres, a distributed energy resources (DER) solution can be built to stabilise supply. These include:

• Renewables such as solar and wind.

• Battery energy storage systems and UPSs.

• Fuel cells, including hydrogen and other nascent or emerging resources.

• Combined cooling, heating and power

• Right-sized natural gas or diesel generators.

By managing the above DERs using technology such as Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Microgrid Advisor, your data centre operation will be improved, demand response will be optimised, and the system can be set up to run autonomously (island mode) or as part of the grid.


Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Integration of power and energy management with industrial
Schneider Electric South Africa Electrical Power & Protection
Water and power management form the backbone of society and the country’s industrial landscape. With infrastructure challenges, stricter environmental regulations and the need for greater operational efficiency, water and wastewater operators need to optimise their systems. This is where the integration of power and energy management and industrial automation can alleviate some of these operational challenges.

Read more...
Schneider Electric South Africa certified as 2025 Top Employer
Schneider Electric South Africa News
Schneider Electric is proud to announce its South African operation has been awarded Top Employer 2025 certification by a global authority in HR excellence, Top Employers Institute.

Read more...
Siemens’ PAVE360 to support new Arm Zena Compute Subsystems
IT in Manufacturing
Siemens Digital Industries Software is expanding its longstanding relationship with Arm and adding support for the newly launched Arm Zena Compute Subsystems in its PAVE360 software, designed for software-defined vehicles

Read more...
Fortifying the state in a time of cyber siege
IT in Manufacturing
In an era where borders are no longer physical, South Africa is being drawn into a new kind of conflict, one fought not with tanks and missiles, but with lines of code and silent intrusions. The digital battlefield is here, and cyber space has become the next frontier of conflict.

Read more...
Levelling up workplace safety - how gamification is changing the rules of training
IT in Manufacturing
Despite the best intentions, traditional safety training often falls short, with curricula either being too generic, too passive, or ultimately unmemorable. Enter gamification, a shift in training that is redefining how businesses train for safety and live by those principles.

Read more...
Reinventing data centre design: critical changes to meet surging
Schneider Electric South Africa IT in Manufacturing
AI technologies are pushing the boundaries of what is possible which, in turn, is presenting data centres with a whole new set of challenges. Fortunately, several options are emerging which include optimising design and infrastructure for efficiency, cooling and management systems

Read more...
Drakenstein Municipality aces Schneider Electric’s Sustainability Impact Award
Schneider Electric South Africa News
Drakenstein Municipality in the Western Cape has won a Sustainability Impact Award for Schneider Electric’s Anglophone Africa region, shining the spotlight on its unwavering commitment to sustainable leadership and its forward-thinking approach to ensuring a sustainable future for its coming generations.

Read more...
Watts next - can IT save the planet
IT in Manufacturing
The digital age’s insatiable demand for computing power has collided with an urgent and pressing need for sustainability. As data centres and AI workloads consume unprecedented energy, IT providers are pivotal in redefining how technology intersects with environmental stewardship.

Read more...
South Africa’s digital revolution:
IT in Manufacturing
South Africa stands at a pivotal moment in its technological evolution, poised to redefine itself as Africa’s leading digital powerhouse. Over the past two years, political leaders and media narratives have painted a picture of rapid digital transformation, underscoring the government’s ambition to position South Africa at the forefront of innovation.

Read more...
Smart manufacturing, APC and the SA marketplace
Schneider Electric South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Manufacturers are prioritising the integration of smart technologies into their daily operations to stay one step ahead of the competition. In South Africa, some experts believe the country has the potential to leapfrog its global peers through the creation of smart factories.

Read more...









While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved