Equinix has appointed Sandile Dube as its new managing director in South Africa. In his role, Dube will be spearheading the establishment of Equinix’s JN1 International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Johannesburg, working with both local and multinational companies. The planned launch for the IBX data center is set for mid-2024, marking Equinix’s debut in the South African market.

Dube joins Equinix from Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE), where he previously served as the Managing Director for South Africa. Expressing his enthusiasm for the new position, Dube highlighted Equinix’s commitment to advancing digital initiatives in Africa and expanding global connections to the African continent. He emphasized the potential of South Africa in accelerating its digital aspirations to attract international investment and foster international trade.

Since 2021, when Equinix’s expansion into Africa began with its acquisition of MainOne for $320 million, the company set its sights on a bigger pool in Africa with a $160m investment in a Johannesburg data center, JN1, with an initial phase offering 4MW of capacity across 20,000 square feet of data center space, expandable to 20MW upon completion.

Equinix already has 4 data centers and a subsea cable in West Africa, courtesy it’s acquisition of MainOne and has joined other global technology  companies such as Digital Realty, Amazon, Google and Microsoft that are expanding their data center footprint on the continent.