00:01These machines are at the heart of Africa's digital revolution.
00:05Data centers enable everything from video streaming and AI requests to online banking and cloud computing.
00:12But keeping all that data moving isn't easy or free. It requires guaranteed power 24-7.
00:18We've also deployed backup generation ourselves, and we are working to onboard other providers that will provide either gas to
00:31us or provide energy to us as well.
00:35So we've made significant progress. We've connected the data center. Power is running, and we are ready to go.
00:45With Africa's data center market expected to more than double to almost $8.8 billion by 2031, there's a lot
00:53riding on the need for uninterrupted electricity supplies.
00:58Nigeria's Kasi Cloud is one company hoping to capitalize on the investment in data centers across the continent, building facilities
01:05in Lagos.
01:06Cloud and AI factories and AI data centers will be critical as Africa begins to migrate digitally.
01:17So we decided to focus on West Africa because West Africa has the population, and it was an easy decision
01:26for us.
01:27Focusing on the capital to build it and build it at scale was the real challenge.
01:33But they're also faced with the question of providing constant power for their data centers.
01:39Roxyo Group, which develops carrier-neutral data centers across several African countries, says the continent cannot build a digital economy
01:47without local infrastructure.
01:49CEO Robert Scott says this is key and will need to include independent power producers or IPPs.
01:56What should happen in my mind is that you need to build an IPP structure.
02:01So IPPs, companies are more than willing to build power plants, supply the power, etc. to these data centers.
02:08But what we need in many countries, not so much in South Africa, but certainly in other countries,
02:14is the permission for private power to supply to private off-takers.
02:19And that is a change of regulation that does take time.
02:21But regulators are starting to take action.
02:24Nigeria's Central Bank will require all banks and payment companies to store transaction data locally by 2027.
02:32This could have positive knock-on effects.
02:34You can't do the digitalization without having your data local.
02:38And that's what these governments have realized and are actively pushing for.
02:42And we wanted to be part of that journey.
02:44As more African governments push for digital information to stay local,
02:49data centers seem destined to become more than just storage facilities,
02:53but a resource which could shape the continent's digital economy and its fortunes for years to come.
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