Nairobi-based IXAfrica Data Centers and Schneider Electric have jointly unveiled what they describe as East Africa’s largest hyperscale data center, marking a significant milestone for Kenya’s digital infrastructure. Known as ‘NBOX1’, this Tier 3+ carrier-neutral facility is specifically designed to cater to advanced AI applications, setting a new benchmark in cloud, colocation, and connectivity services across the region.
Situated within IXAfrica’s expansive 4.3-acre Nairobi campus, NBOX1 boasts a robust infrastructure featuring 4.5MW of IT power and 780 racks spread across three data halls, accompanied by 4,000 square meters of teleport space. The facility leverages Schneider Electric’s ‘EcoStruxure for Data Centres’ architecture, ensuring superior resilience, uptime, cost efficiency, and enhanced security while aligning with IXAfrica’s sustainability goals.
Schneider Electric’s involvement extends to the power management system, utilizing MV and LV switchgear to deliver stable and reliable cloud services powered by Kenya’s grid. Ifeanyi Odoh, Schneider Electric’s East Africa country president, emphasized the facility’s capability, stating, “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% uptime guarantee.”
IXAfrica CEO Snehar Shah highlighted the strategic significance of Kenya as a digital technology hub for East Africa, supported by a burgeoning ecosystem that includes skilled workforce availability, robust internet fiber connectivity, and favorable economic and regulatory conditions. Shah underscored Kenya’s readiness for hypercloud services, citing high cloud adoption rates, digital sophistication, and access to low-carbon power sources.
The development of IXAfrica Nairobi Campus One, backed by a US$50 million investment from Helios Investment Partners, underscores the growing confidence in Kenya’s digital economy. IXAfrica plans to expand its footprint with a second data center campus in Nairobi, reflecting the region’s increasing demand for scalable and secure digital infrastructure.
Africa’s digital infrastructure industry remains attractive to global tech giants like Microsoft and UAE-based G42 who have also signaled their commitment to Kenya’s digital future, with substantial investments aimed at ramping up the country’s digital infrastructure and expanding cloud capabilities across East Africa.
