Ixafrica Is Building Sustainable Hyperscale Data Centres In East Africa

IXAfrica has been featured in the August issue of Data Centre Magazine.

In this exclusive interview, Guy Willner and Clement Martineau discussed sustainability, hyperscale infrastructure, and bringing the Big Edge to emerging and underserved markets.

“People talk a lot about the edge, and the idea I’m pushing a lot is what I call The Big Edge,” said Willner, a 20 year veteran of data centre build outs throughout Europe, Russia, and Africa. Willner is the co-founder and Chairman of both IXcellerateand IXAfrica. “The edge is a train station in Northampton – a drop off place for Netflix or whomever; the Big Edge is Lagos, the capital of Nigeria with a population of 210mn people. It’s all the cities around the world with more than a million people but without the digital infrastructure to match.” 

“The campus is tailor-made for hyperscale clients,” said Martineau, co-founder of IXAfrica and the company’s Director of Operations. “We are almost done with the shell construction and are entering the fit-out phase, bringing in all the equipment, from chillers, servers, and switch gears, to power and backup generators. We will most-likely be one of the biggest data centres in Africa – the biggest in East Africa by far – when the project is completed.” 

Harry Menear, Editor at Data Centre Magazine, said: “Sitting down with Guy and Clem was a thoroughly illuminating experience. They’re both industry veterans with a great deal of passion, both for their ongoing project and the East African data centre industry as a whole.” 

He added: “We were also fortunate to be able to partner with Future-Tech, the data centre consultancy that helped design, build, and outfit IXAfrica’s Nairobi campus. I got to have a really good conversation with their CEO, James Wilman, whose experience as a designer and builder of data centres in Kenya specifically has been a huge boon to the project.” 

About Data Centre Magazine

Data Centre Magazine is a global source for news, in-depth features and expert commentary relating to every facet of the modern data centre industry and its role in the world today. Visit our site for daily updates, breaking news and analysis. 

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BizClik’s portfolio includes Technology & AI, Finance & Insurance, Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Energy & Mining, Construction, Healthcare, Wireless Communications & Data Centres. For further information, please visit https://www.bizclikmedia.com/You can read the report in the latest issue of Data Centre Magazine by clicking HERE.

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