Africa’s data‑centre market poised for rapid growth with infrastructure and investment opportunities by 2030

Africa’s data‑centre industry could become one of the fastest-growing technology sectors globally by 2030, driven by AI adoption and cloud services, provided infrastructure gaps are bridged and tailored investment models are adopted.

Africa’s data‑centre market could become one of the world’s fastest‑growing technology sectors by 2030, unlocking an annual revenue pool of between $20 billion and $30 billion if investors and governments bridge long‑standing infrastructure gaps and tailor models to local market realities. According to the McKinsey & Company analysis, this upside is being driven by rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, accelerating cloud workloads and a surge in data‑intensive consumer services across the continent. ^[1][2][6]

McKinsey estimates that capturing the $30 billion opportunity will require $10 billion to $20 billion in new capital and a strategy that recognises Africa’s fragmented demand and operating constraints. The consultancy stresses that success depends on financing structures and infrastructure designs suited to dispersed project sizes and variable market conditions. ^[1][2][6]

The report highlights how Africa’s largest markets , Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa , together have under 500 megawatts (MW) of installed data‑centre capacity, compared with roughly 800 MW in France, even as demand is forecast to expand between 3.5 and 5.5 times by 2030. That growth would lift total continental capacity from roughly 0.4 gigawatts (GW) today to an estimated 1.5–2.2 GW by decade‑end. ^[1][2][3][6]

AI is a key demand accelerator: McKinsey finds around 40% of African corporations are experimenting with generative AI and warns that full deployment across enterprises could create $60–$100 billion in enterprise value. Public‑sector digitalisation programmes , from multilateral initiatives to national platforms such as Kenya’s eCitizen , are further expanding workload needs. Cloud adoption is also expected to rise sharply, with cloud workloads projected to increase by about 18 percentage points in the coming years. ^[1][2][3]

The shape of Africa’s data centres will differ from mature markets. Rather than predominately hyperscale facilities exceeding 50 MW, McKinsey expects roughly two‑thirds of projects to fall in the 1–50 MW range, enabling smaller, smarter and more resilient builds that can deliver acceptable returns even with fragmented demand. The report also points to innovative concepts such as “data embassies” , state‑owned facilities abroad that preserve national jurisdiction over sensitive data , as potential ways to reconcile sovereignty with capacity limits. ^[1][2][6]

Power reliability, connectivity and financing remain the three structural constraints that could slow the market. The analysis cites persistent grid instability in some markets , with outages reported in double digits per month in the worst‑affected countries , prompting operators to adopt hybrid supply models combining grid PPAs, independent power producers and renewable microgrids. Subsea cable distribution and terrestrial fibre roll‑out are uneven, leaving connectivity gaps in parts of the continent. ^[1][2][3][6]

On financing, McKinsey notes that markets lacking large anchor tenants struggle to attract traditional capital; developers are increasingly adopting asset‑backed and sustainability‑linked financing and are partnering with development finance institutions. The report identifies carrier‑neutral co‑location providers as particularly well‑positioned , able to access international equity and local debt to build ahead of demand , while telecommunications incumbents retain strategic importance where bundled connectivity and early demand detection matter. ^[1][2][6]

Regional examples and market signals reinforce the analysis. Industry reports show strong investment momentum in South Africa , where the data‑centre market was valued in the low billions of dollars in 2024 and is forecast to grow at a high single‑digit CAGR , and commercial entrants are expanding capacity and cloud regions. Global payments firms have also begun locating infrastructure in Africa: Visa opened its first African data centre in Johannesburg in 2025 as part of a broader investment programme, underscoring private‑sector confidence in local digital payments and cloud services. ^[4][5][7]

While Africa starts from a modest base, coordinated investment, adaptable facility design and targeted policy support could position the continent as a major growth market for data‑centre services by 2030. “Africa’s data centre story is one of innovation meeting necessity,” McKinsey’s Senior Partner Kartik Jayaram told the original report, calling for infrastructure and financing models that are both locally tailored and internationally reliable. The firm concludes that, with momentum sustained, the continent can capture a globally significant share of the digital economy’s infrastructure value chain. ^[1][2][6]

Reference Map:

• ^[1] (ThisDay / McKinsey summary) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 7, Paragraph 9
• ^[2] (McKinsey & Company) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 7, Paragraph 9
• ^[3] (Ecofin Agency) – Paragraph 3, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 6
• ^[4] (GlobeNewswire / South Africa market report) – Paragraph 8
• ^[5] (Reuters) – Paragraph 8
• ^[6] (AfricaDCA / McKinsey coverage) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 7, Paragraph 9
• ^[7] (Yahoo Finance market summary) – Paragraph 8

Source: Fuse Wire Services