In a significant development, Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli announced plans for a green data center on Wednesday, September 18. This initiative, in collaboration with a global consortium, aims to harness renewable energy to bolster data storage and processing services, supporting Egypt’s ambition to elevate its digital services exports to $9 billion by 2026.
Despite Africa accounting for only 1% of global data center space in 2021 as reported by Xalam Analytics, there is a growing push across the continent towards digital sovereignty, with increasing demand for local data hosting solutions. According to the “Data Centres in Africa” report by the Oxford Business Group, sponsored by the Africa Data Centres Association, over 100 data centers currently operate in Africa, more than half of which are located in South Africa. This expansion is largely driven by data sovereignty regulations necessitating local data storage within the continent or its five sub-regions.
Egypt’s strategic location at the nexus of telecommunications cables linking Africa, Asia, and Europe positions it as an ideal hub for global data center operators. Several leading companies including Huawei, Amazon Web Services, Google, Oracle, and Microsoft have already established facilities across the continent in nations like Kenya, South Africa, and Angola. With its geographical advantages and focused digital strategy, Egypt presents an attractive option for global providers seeking to extend their footprint in Africa.