IXAFRICA
Co-Founder & Chairman Guy Willner shares IXAfrica ’ s journey from start-up to operator sustaining East Africa ’ s growing demand for digital infrastructure
Kenya may seem like an unconventional place to build a state-of-the-art revolutionary data centre campus , but if anything it boasts better credentials than other geographies , which lend themselves as favourable to sustainable locations .
And that sentiment is echoed by IXAfrica ’ s Co-Founder and Chairman Guy Willner . The seasoned data centre specialist has experience setting up facilities worldwide , and highlights how Kenya boasts a plethora of benefits – both for the environment , operator and its clientele .
“ The interesting thing about Kenya is that it uses 90 % plus renewable energy . To put that into context , the UK is probably about 25 % on a good day . And this is 24 hours , so it ’ s not wind energy or solar , it ’ s geothermal – which means it ’ s available 24 / 7 . It ’ s a massive thing for Kenya .”
Kenya ’ s a bit like Nordic nations , like Iceland or Norway with 93 % renewable energy – due to its access to hydropower , Willner explains . “ But geothermal is neither damaging for the environment like building dams , nor is it only available eight hours a day like solar . This is really serious stuff . I don ’ t think there ’ s one European Union country that gets anywhere close to where Kenya is in terms of renewable power .”
IXAfrica ’ s data centre campus expansion in Nairobi , Kenya Situated in Nairobi , IXAfrica ’ s campus is strategically located amid Africa ’ s growing technology epicentre and is
128 November 2023