Africa Data Center Market Size, Share, By IT Infrastructure (Server, Storage, and Network), By Electrical Infrastructure (UPS System Generators, Transfer Switches and Switchgears, Rack PDUs, and Other Electrical Infrastructure), By Mechanical Infrastructure (Cooling Systems, Racks, and Other Mechanical Infrastructure), By Cooling Systems (CRAC & CRAH, Chiller units, Cooling Towers & Dry Coolers, Economizer & Evaporative Coolers, and Other Cooling Units), By General Construction (Building Design Services, Building Development, Installation and Commissioning Services, Data Center Infrastructure Management, and Physical Security Systems), and By Tier Standards (Tier I & II, Tier III, and Tier IV) - Trends, Analysis and Forecast till 2034

Africa Data Center Market Size was valued at USD 3.7 Billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.5% to reach USD 11.7 Billion by 2034.

Data centers are places where a collection of networking and computer equipment is assembled to process, disseminate, gather, store, or provide access to vast amounts of data. Applications and business activities like productivity software, email and file sharing, CRM, databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), machine learning, virtual desktops, communications, big data, artificial intelligence, and collaboration services are all supported and aided by data centers. Storage systems, servers, routers, switches, firewalls, and application-delivery controllers are important data center parts.

The Africa Data Center market is a significant area of the technology industry that provides and manages the physical infrastructure required to host and operate IT systems, principally servers, storage, and network equipment. This market includes hosting, shared data center facilities, and managed data center solutions. It also includes advanced facilities provided by specialist providers. Traditional in-house data centers are included in this industry. It offers adaptable, scalable solutions for their IT infrastructure needs to a wide range of clients, from small companies to major corporations. This industry is essential to securing and effectively operating IT systems in various enterprises.

The major manufacturers operating in the data center facility field are expected to continuously grow and develop advanced management solutions to increase processing, distributing, collecting, and storing abilities or to allow access to large amounts of data. This is expected to enhance the growth of the data center market. The IT sector's growing need for data center space will also be impacted by the quick uptake of cutting-edge technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Africa Data Center Market Drivers:

Advancements of Smart Cities

• Africa's core location market is essential for undersea cable landing stations to improve global connectivity and build expansive smart cities. As a smart city expands, the requirement for storage and processing power will increase since more data will be produced. The need for High-Performance Computing (HPC) will propel the development of edge data centers, increasing the area's attraction to investors and the business community.
• Advances in IoT, 5G, and AI will improve data flow and internet speed as smart cities develop. As of 2023, Africa is home to over 100 data centers, with South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya leading the way. As a result of this increase in connectivity, the data center market in Africa should grow. As smart city projects gain traction, more investors will likely enter the data center business and fund data center infrastructure.

Africa Data Center Market Restrains:

Lack of skilled professionals

• Throughout the projection period, the need for more qualified experts and field workers with the necessary skills to operate data center blades will hinder the growth of the data center facility market. It authorities must educate the workers and train them to operate data centers so that no malfunction other workforce does not malfunction.
• Africa Data Center Market is segmented based on IT Infrastructure, Electrical Infrastructure, Mechanical Infrastructure, Cooling Systems, General Construction, and Tier Standards.

IT Infrastructure Insights:

• Server:

A server is the actual gear that handles data processing in a data center. In African data centers, the need for more potent and effective servers is being driven by the rising demand for cloud services, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence applications.

• Storage:

Large volumes of data companies and organizations produce are stored on storage devices like solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs). The demand for data backup and archiving and the emergence of big data are driving this market's expansion.

• Network:

Networking equipment handles data transmission within the data center and communication to the external environment. Advances in network technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN) and high-speed Ethernet are essential for African data centers to be scalable and have efficient data flow.

Electrical Infrastructure Insights:

• UPS System Generators:

UPS systems guarantee the continuous functioning of vital IT equipment by providing backup power to the data center during power outages. Reliability is crucial for UPS systems to minimize data loss and downtime as data centers become more dependent on technology.

• Transfer Switches and Switchgears:

Transfer Switches and switchgear control the electrical flow inside the data center, making sure that the grid and generators—the major and secondary power sources—switch over smoothly.

• Rack PDUs:

PDUs supply electricity to specific server racks inside the data center. High-efficiency PDUs provide an effective power supply and save energy waste.

• Other Electrical Infrastructure:

This category includes a variety of other essential parts for a data center's electrical system, such as grounding systems, busbars, power conditioning equipment, and monitoring and management systems.

Mechanical Infrastructure Insights:

• Cooling Systems:

Air-based cooling systems are Africa's most often employed technology because of the continent's typically warm environment. However, worries about data center efficiency and the advent of high-density computers may cause a surge in the use of liquid-based cooling systems in certain places where dependable water supplies are available.

• Racks:

Adopting standardized server rack sizes and configurations is becoming increasingly important as the African data center business develops to guarantee equipment interoperability with different suppliers.

• Other Mechanical Infrastructure:

This category includes components that help the data center operate correctly, such as cable management systems, fire suppression systems, power distribution units (PDUs), and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).

Cooling Systems Insights:

• CRAC & CRAH:

These are specific air conditioners made for data centers. Self-contained machines called computer room air conditioners (CRACs) chill the air within the server room, and through air handlers placed within the server room, Computer Room Air Handlers (CRAHs) provide cold air after cooling a water-glycol combination.

• Chiller units:

These are central cooling systems that produce chilled water using a refrigeration cycle. The air circulating the server room is cooled by this chilled water, which is subsequently piped to heat exchangers within CRACs or CRAHs.

• Cooling Towers & Dry Coolers:

These operate in tandem with chiller units. While dry coolers utilize ambient air to reject heat (often with the help of fans), cooling towers employ water evaporation from the chiller's condenser loop.

• Economizer & Evaporative Coolers:

These devices use ambient air to cool themselves. When the outside air is cold enough to fulfill cooling requirements, economizers use it directly, eliminating the need for mechanical chillers. On the other hand, evaporative coolers use outside air that has been cooled by passing it through a water mist before it reaches the server room. It functions well in arid conditions.

• Other Cooling units:

In order to remove heat more effectively, this category includes newly developed cooling methods such as immersion cooling, which immerses servers in a liquid cooler.

General Construction Insights:

• Building Design Services:

Data center design must consider security, scalability, and power efficiency. Specialized architectural and engineering firms meet these specifications, guaranteeing effective data center building in Africa.

• Building Development:

This section includes establishing the data center's physical infrastructure while following local building requirements, industry best practices, and safety regulations. Construction companies with experience in data center design and construction are crucial to establishing reliable and effective data centers in Africa.

• Installation and Commissioning Services:

Specialized companies install and test all IT, electrical, and mechanical infrastructure components to guarantee appropriate performance when the data center building is finished.

• Data Center Infrastructure Management:

Real-time monitoring and administration of the various data center infrastructure components are made possible by DCIM software, which also optimizes resource allocation and energy consumption.

• Physical Security Systems:

Data centers must implement strong security procedures to safeguard critical data and equipment. This section covers intrusion detection systems, video surveillance, and access control systems.

Tier Standards Insights:

• Tier I & II:

These entry-level or standard-level data centers are less robust to outages and provide less redundancy. Tier II data centers have some redundancy but with regular maintenance outages, whereas Tier I data centers usually have a single power route and little cooling redundancy.

• Tier III:

These establishments provide concurrent maintainability, allowing vital system maintenance without interfering with data center operations. Numerous power and cooling pathways in Tier III data centers provide greater dependability and uptime.

• Tier IV:

These data centers provide the most significant degree of availability and uptime and are also the most fault-tolerant. To prevent a single point of failure, Tier IV facilities feature numerous separate, completely segregated power and cooling infrastructures.

Africa Data Center Market Report Scope:

Attribute	Details
Market Size 2024	US$ 3.7 billion
Projected Market Size 2034	US$ 11.7 billion
CAGR Growth Rate	13.5%
Base year for estimation	2023
Forecast period	2024 – 2034
Market representation	Revenue in USD Billion & CAGR from 2024 to 2034
Market Segmentation	By IT Infrastructure - Server, Storage, and Network. By Electrical Infrastructure - UPS System Generators, Transfer Switches and Switchgears, Rack PDUs, and Other Electrical Infrastructure. By Mechanical Infrastructure - Cooling Systems, Racks, and Other Mechanical Infrastructure. By Cooling Systems - CRAC & CRAH, Chiller units, Cooling Towers & Dry Coolers, Economizer & Evaporative Coolers, and Other Cooling Units. By General Construction - Building Design Services, Building Development, Installation and Commissioning Services, Data Center Infrastructure Management, and Physical Security Systems. By Tier Standards - Tier I & II, Tier III, and Tier IV.
Regional scope	Africa - South Africa, Rest of Africa
Report coverage	Revenue forecast, company share, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends

Segments Covered in the Report:

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2024 to 2034. For the purpose of this study segmented the Africa Data Center Market report based on IT Infrastructure, Electrical Infrastructure, Mechanical Infrastructure, Cooling Systems, General Construction, and Tier Standards:

Africa Data Center Market, By IT Infrastructure:

• Server
• Storage
• Network

Africa Data Center Market, By Electrical Infrastructure:

• UPS System Generators
• Transfer Switches and Switchgears
• Rack PDUs
• Other Electrical Infrastructure

Africa Data Center Market, By Mechanical Infrastructure:

• Cooling Systems
• Racks
• Other Mechanical Infrastructure

Africa Data Center Market, By Cooling Systems:

• CRAC & CRAH
• Chiller units
• Cooling Towers & Dry Coolers
• Economizer & Evaporative Coolers
• Other Cooling units

Africa Data Center Market, By General Construction:

• Building Design Services
• Building Development
• Installation and Commissioning Services
• Data Center Infrastructure Management
• Physical Security Systems

Africa Data Center Market, By Tier Standards:

• Tier I & II
• Tier III
• Tier IV

The key players operating the Africa Data Center Market include Arista, Atos, Broadcom, Cisco, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Huawei, IBM, Lenovo, and NetApp.

• In June 2021, Broadcom Inc. increased its range of electro-optics platform solutions for data centers and clouds to include 100Gb, 200Gb, 400Gb, and 800Gb. Offering the first 100Gb PAM-4 VCSEL and multi-mode kit in the industry, a tested 112Gb PAM-4 PHY with direct-drive technology, and uncooled 100Gb PAM-4 EML capability, the portfolio offers customers a full range of solutions to address the industry's expanding bandwidth needs for networking, including those based on Broadcom's 12.8-Tbps Tomahawk® 3 and 25.6-Tbps Tomahawk® 4 switch platforms.

• Arista
• Atos
• Broadcom
• Cisco
• Dell Technologies
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
• Huawei
• IBM
• Lenovo
• NetApps