Omani MSP Oman Data Park is to build a data center on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar.
The Sultanate of Oman and Zanzibar have signed several memoranda of understanding (MoU) in the fields of higher education, research and innovation, and digital infrastructure.
One of the MoUs was between Oman Data Park and Zanzibar’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transport and was concerned with establishing, managing, and operating a data center in Zanzibar.
It was signed by Dr. Rahma Ibrahim Al Mahrouqi, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Zanzibar’s Minister of Finance and Planning Saada Mkuya.
"We are proud to have signed a memorandum of understanding with The Government of Zanzibar to establish, manage and operate a data center in Zanzibar," the company said on LinkedIn. Details about location, facility size & capacity, or timelines were not shared.
The Times of Oman said the MoU is part of Zanzibar’s plans of automating tendering systems, transforming to an eGovernment, storing data and information for the public and private sectors, as well as enhancing data security in Zanzibar.
Established in 2012 as a joint venture between 4Trust and Omantel, Oman Data Park is an IT Managed Services provider offering colocation, cyber security, and cloud services. It operates several 12,000 sq ft data centers in Oman.
While a number of firms including Tigo, Zantel, Raxio, and Wingu operate or are developing data centers in Tanzania, Zanzibar has relatively little digital infrastructure. It seems only the Zanzibar ICT Infrastructure Agency currently operates a data center on the island.
Earlier this year tethered blimp firm Altaeros partnered with World Mobile for a balloon-based telco network.
Source: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/oman-data-park-planning-data-center-on-zanzibar-island/