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Equinix plans to speculate $160 million to construct its first information middle in South Africa, as a part of the agency’s African growth push.
The US information middle firm will construct its first facility in Africa’s richest metropolis, Johannesburg, and expects to be operational by mid 2024, stated Equinix EMEA president Eugene Bergen in an interview. The deal follows its acquisition of Nigeria’s MainOne, that valued the west African information middle enterprise at $320 million.
“South Africa was an enormous goal for Equinix as it’s the most developed financial system in sub-Saharan Africa,” stated Bergen. “We’re focusing to get into Africa, and we’re taking a look at one other 5 – 6 international locations to enter.”
California-based Equinix is seeking to reap the benefits of a predominantly younger African inhabitants with rising entry to the web that’s offering a boon for the business, albeit from a low base.
With the South African deal, the worldwide information middle investor plans to serve massive enterprises similar to banks, content material and media firms, and hyper-scalers working within the nation and on the continent, stated Bergen. The corporate is looking for anchor prospects that it might probably comply with to different African international locations, stated Bergen. “We count on the client ramp-up in South Africa to go fairly rapidly,” he stated.
Tech giants similar to Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have additionally invested in information facilities in African international locations lately as demand for storage grows. The continent accounts for simply 1% of worldwide information middle capability, creating a big alternative for buyers that need to faucet into the area’s development potential, whereas taking over sure working dangers similar to an unreliable energy provide.
Whereas South Africa is residence to the most important electrical energy provider on the continent by way of its utility Eskom, there have been important energy interruptions because it struggles to exchange its getting older crops and meet rising energy demand. Equinix’s Bergen stated vitality reliability was a powerful focus for the enterprise throughout its operations, and it takes varied steps to make sure a steady provide together with constructing its personal energy capability, putting in a number of back-up mills and making offers with native grids.
Nasdaq-listed Equinix owns 249 information facilities and operates in 32 international locations. The South African deal comes quickly after the corporate introduced plans to broaden into Indonesia and Malaysia.
© 2022 Bloomberg
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