IXAfrica Data Centre Limited has announced a partnership deal with Tilisi Development PLC, with an aim to develop a data center campus in Tilisi, a 400-acre master-planned mixed-use development in Limuru, Kenya. The data center whose exact size is yet to be disclosed, is estimated to provide an energy capacity of 30MW+, and will be established on an 11-acre piece of land in Tilisi. This marks IXAfrica’s second data center in Kenya, with the Nairobi Campus being the flagship center founded in 2022, in collaboration with Helios Investment Partners. 

IXAfrica’s second campus at Tilisi reaffirms its commitment towards the Kenyan market, at a time when data center developments have been gaining popularity in the country. Notably, Nairobi’s data center supply increased to approximately 10 MW in 2022,  with over 80% of this stock coming up over the past 5 years, and a more promising pipeline amounting to 49 MW. 

Moreover, commitments towards data center developments in Nairobi increased in H1:2023. For example, in March 2023, Agility Logistics Park (ALP) announced plans to open a new data center site in Nairobi, whereas Grit Real Estate Income Group announced plans to develop two new data centers at Ruiru’s Tatu City, and Mlolongo area along Mombasa Road, barely three months ago. 

Some of the various factors that have driven the sector’s attractiveness include: 

• A growing need for high-quality data centers, which we expect IXAfrica to deliver at Tilisi, given its popularity as a leading center and operator of hyperscale-ready data centers in East Africa. 
• Increasing demand and adoption of digital services in the country. 
• Kenya’s popularity as a gateway to East Africa, which in turn attracts investments.
• Availability of ready prime locations such as Tilisi masterplan development, which attracts and facilitates the seamless establishment of data centers.
• Availability of capital to drive market deals through investment partnerships.

We expect a similar trend to continue shaping and boosting the overall growth of data centers in the country.

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