IXAfrica Data Centres has launched East Africa’s first and largest hypercloud data center, named NBOX1, in Kenya, in collaboration with Schneider Electric, an energy management leader. This new facility aims to provide stable, reliable, and renewable cloud services powered by the country’s grid.
NBOX1 is the largest and most technologically advanced in East Africa, designed for cloud, colocation, and connectivity. It uses Schneider Electric’s MV and LV switchgear and EcoStruxure for Data Centers architecture for maximum resilience, uptime, cost efficiency, and sustainability.
In his reaction, the Chief Executive Officer(CEO), of IXAfrica, Snehar Shah said: “Kenya is a hypercloud-ready region with advanced cloud adoption propensities, a digitally savvy ecosystem, access to diverse internet fibre connectivity, high-availability and low-carbon sources of power. This all sits within a country offering a stable regulatory and political environment, and a strong economy forecast to row 5.2 per cent in 2024,”
According to Schneider Electric Country President in East Africa, Ifeanyi Odoh, he said: “The solutions provided by Schneider Electric are engineered to support N+1 redundancy with four independent power trains, meeting IXAfrica’s immediate and long-term objectives, including design 1.25 PUE across the campus, as well as a 99.999 per cent uptime guarantee”.
Mouna Essa Egh, Secure Power Vice President for Middle East & Africa also highlighted Schneider Electric’s commitment to pioneering sustainable solutions for data centres:
“We believe that sustainable practices are essential for the future of data centres, and we are proud to partner with organizations like IXAfrica to create environmentally conscious and innovative digital habitats for the evolving technological landscape,” Essa said
With the power grid creating stability challenges as it introduces more power from renewable sources, the use of backup lithium-ion batteries in conjunction with the Galaxy VX UPS provides a formidable solution to some of the challenges associated with intermittency or variability of supply.
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Located in Nairobi, Kenya, NBOX1 serves as a key hub in East Africa’s growing technology sector, the “Digital Savannah,” supporting over 300 million people.
Kenya’s advanced cloud adoption, diverse internet connectivity, stable regulatory environment, and forecasted economic growth make it an ideal location for a hyper-cloud data centre. The project aims to attract hyperscale and internet customers to East Africa.
