Kenya's digital dreams are finding form in steel and concrete, with a data fortress meant to last for decades
Airtel Kenya has officially broken ground on what is set to be East Africa's largest data centre, located at Tatu City, Nairobi.
The $150 million facility marks a significant milestone in the country's digital infrastructure journey, designed to support cloud computing, AI workloads, and enterprise-scale services across the region.
"This is a good amount," said Airtel Kenya Managing Director, Ashish Malhotra during the launch. "Our estimates for the first rollout alone, with two phases, will be somewhere around 150 million dollars upwards, about 18 billion shillings. It's a big, big investment from our side." Yashnath Issur, CEO of Nxtra Africa was careful to stress that the figure covered the core infrastructure only: the building, advanced cooling, and high-capacity power systems. "There's more investment needed for other parts of the ecosystem, but this is strictly the data center itself."
The data centre will boast a total planned power capacity of 44 megawatts, housed across two phases of 22MW each. With high-density, GPU-ready racks and multiple redundant fiber paths, the facility promises unmatched reliability and scalability for hyperscalers, government agencies, and large enterprises. Engineers have targeted a design PUE of less than 1.4, reflecting global energy efficiency standards, while the 99.999% uptime guarantees nearly uninterrupted service.
Speaking at the groundbreaking, Cabinet Secretary of ICT, Hon. William Kabogo, said, "The scale and quality of this facility will firmly place Kenya on the map as a trusted host for global and regional digital infrastructure. It reflects confidence in Kenya's policies and our vision for a digitally enabled society."
His endorsement tied Nxtra's Nairobi build directly to government priorities: broadband expansion, innovation hubs, and data localization.
Ashish emphasized the broader impact on the country's tech ecosystem. "This project goes beyond infrastructure. It strengthens data sovereignty, improves security, and reduces operational costs for Kenyan businesses. Once operational, it will attract global tech players, create jobs, lower the cost of digital services, and make it easier for Kenyan companies to grow, while Kenya strengthens its place as a regional hub for technology and innovation. We believe also it will create a new portfolio of services that will maximize the benefits of AI and cloud."
Yashnath added that sustainability and resilience are central to the design. "We're building a facility that meets the long-term digital growth requirements of the region, while also ensuring energy efficiency and environmental responsibility. This is not just a data centre; it's a platform for innovation and next-generation technology adoption."
"Today, we have an initial guaranteed output of 95 percent for power to our data center," he explained. "We are aiming to make that 100 percent by the time it is operational. We're working very closely with the electricity leadership to make sure that this happens."
Sustainability, he added, is a guiding principle. "Africa is blessed with a good mix of electricity generation -- hydro, solar, and in some areas wind. Our balance of energy mix will always ensure that you are as close to 100 percent as possible for our data center."
That pledge matters in a market where power instability has long been a drag on digital infrastructure investment. By highlighting renewable-heavy supply, Airtel is signaling to cloud providers and enterprises that Nxtra is designed with long-term resilience in mind.
The project is expected to create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs during construction, with additional permanent technical and operational roles upon completion. Local suppliers and contractors will also benefit, injecting millions into Kenya's economy and strengthening the nation's position as a regional technology hub.
Nairobi already hosts data center builds by Africa Data Centres, PAIX, and Google, raising questions about how Airtel will position itself in a competitive market. Airtel executives leaned on their global background to frame the issue differently.
"I've been very close to global capacity planning," said Yashnath, an ex-Amazon hire. "It's not a question of competition -- it will always be a question of collaboration. When Amazon builds or when another provider builds, it's about ensuring redundancy and reliability. Customers need a mix of services, and the ecosystem grows stronger when there are multiple players."
"What our study has shown is quality," Yashnath said. "That was something that hasn't always been the case in Africa, because the knowledge base wasn't always there. I was brought here from the US -- I'm an ex-Amazon -- for a simple reason: to bring that level of expertise, that level of professionalism, in ensuring that what we are delivering is exactly what is needed for the services of the world."
That collaborative framing dovetails with Airtel's ambition to integrate Nxtra into the continent's digital backbone -- not as a siloed telco build, but as a carrier-neutral, hyperscale-ready facility.
With construction scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027, this facility underscores Airtel Kenya's commitment to enhancing connectivity, cloud capabilities, and digital services across East Africa. By anchoring robust digital infrastructure in Nairobi, the company is setting a new benchmark for enterprise-ready data centres on the continent.
Yashnath positioned the brand as a long-term play:
"By building specialized data center capacity that meets long-term digital growth requirements in main markets, we are positioning Nxtra Africa as the Go To partner for cloud and AI workload hosting," he said. "Beyond capacity, our focus is on sustainability and resilience, enabling customers to fully leverage next-generation technologies in a secure environment."
Issur underscored that the Nairobi build was part of a wider Nxtra footprint, with parallel projects mapped in Lagos and Kinshasa, and planned expansions in Mombasa, Kampala, and Dar es Salaam.
This landmark project positions Kenya as a regional leader in digital infrastructure, signaling to global cloud providers and technology firms that the country is ready to host mission-critical digital services. With Airtel Kenya breaking ground on East Africa's largest data centre, Nairobi's technology landscape is poised for rapid transformation.
For Airtel, the Nairobi center is a foundation, not a finish line. For Kenya, it's a statement -- that the country intends not just to consume the world's digital services, but to host them.
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