Microsoft, Eco-Cloud, G42 To Build One Gigawatt Data Centre In Kenya: "Gateway To Africa"

• President William Ruto announced plans for a one-gigawatt (GW) data centre in Naivasha, partnering with Microsoft, Eco-Cloud, and G42 officials.
• Microsoft, Eco-Cloud, and G42 partnership aims for a revolutionary data center powered by green energy to serve Africa
• Kenyan reactions to Ruto's announcement vary from positivity about job opportunities to scepticism about immediate benefits for common citizens

Elijah Ntongai, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has more than three years of financial, business, and technology research expertise, providing insights into Kenyan and global trends.

Nairobi - Kenya's President William Ruto has announced plans to construct a one-gigawatt (GW) data centre in Naivasha.

The data centre will be in a partnership between Kenya Microsoft, Eco-Cloud, and the G42 investment group.

Ruto made the announcement on X following a meeting in Nairobi with Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, Peng Xiao, CEO of G42, and Ecocloud officials.

"The Data centre that will serve Africa will be constructed in partnership with Microsoft, Eco-Cloud, and G42 investment group. The facility will be a revolutionary investment powered by green energy," said Ruto on X.

Kenya has become attractive to global companies, particularly due to the availability of green energy from wind and water.

Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, major tech companies categorised as hyper scalers, heavily rely on data centres for their core operations, leading to significant energy demands.

These companies are committed to achieving 100% renewable energy usage for sustainability, hence the need to invest in countries with green energy sources.

What is a data centre?

According to Amazon Web Services, a data centre serves as a physical facility where computing machines and associated hardware are housed.

The hardware includes the essential infrastructure needed for IT systems, including servers, data storage drives, and networking equipment.

It functions as the storage hub for digital data belonging to any organisation.

How Kenyans reacted to the news

Kenyans expressed positivity, scepticism, and optimism following the announcement by Ruto on X.

@Kaikainaipaa said:

"Kenya is the gateway to Africa, this is a great project that will speed up the activation of Digital Superhighway in Kenya."

@alvin_halgo said:

"Once it starts working, we'll accept it, for now, we should lower our hopes until it's done."

@Sonko254 said:

"Dear sir, I see you launching new projects every day, but most youths, me included, are still jobless. What's really happening to the new opportunities that are supposed to come in hand?"

@The_Kibaki said:

"With all due respect, I know that my beloved President means well for us, but you could have just detailed a little further how we, the common hustlers (from whom category I belong), will directly benefit from the establishment of such a company in our country."

William Ruto secures funding for green energy

Earlier on TUKO.co.ke Ruto's leadership took centre stage at the COP28 in Dubai as Kenya sealed landmark deals worth a staggering KSh 680 billion (approximately $4.48 billion) in green energy investments.

Kenya signed seven deals with different partners to develop different projects tapping on renewable energy resources to increase power generation.

The projects are expected to supplement the already available green energy to support the demands of the data centre and other investments in the country.

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, current affairs journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.