Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

UAE to build 1,000 MW data centres in Kenya

By Pramod Kumar
UAE investment ministry
An investment memorandum signed by Eliud Owalo, cabinet secretary at the ministry of information, communications and the digital economy in Kenya and Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, minister of Investment of the UAE

The UAE plans to build data centre projects with a total capacity of up to 1,000 megawatts in Kenya to promote the “digital corridor” concept with the East African nation.

The UAE’s investment ministry and Kenya’s ministry of information, communications and digital economy have signed a pact to set up a framework for investment cooperation in the field of digitalisation and technology.

The two nations will also explore investments in Kenya’s digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) services, including the potential of large language models.

Person, Electronics, Mobile Phone

Newsletter
Get the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week

Kenya’s digital economy has expanded by 23 percent annually during the last decade, outperforming other sectors.

The largest economy in East Africa is becoming a preferred investment destination for data centre providers, driven by the growing demand for cloud services amid improved business conditions.

The local data centre market is predicted to have a compound annual growth rate of 11.22 percent between 2023 and 2028.

The “digital corridor” concept aims to provide an interconnected network infrastructure enabling secure data exchange, hosting, processing and transmission between the UAE and Kenya.

“Through targeted investments in digital infrastructure and AI, this investment memorandum is set to accelerate the development of a sector that has the potential to become a growth driver for other industries,” UAE’s investment minister Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi said.

The UAE and Kenya finalised a comprehensive economic partnership agreement last month. Bilateral non-oil trade reached $3.1 billion in 2023, up 26.4 percent year on year.

Last month Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence company G42 said it will develop a one-gigawatt data centre in Kenya powered by geothermal energy.

The new facility, developed in partnership with Kenya’s EcoCloud, will boost cloud computing and AI services.

Latest articles

UAE’s RedBird IMI acquires UK TV producer for $1.5bn

RedBird IMI, A US investment management company partly owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, has acquired All3Media, the UK’s largest independent TV production company behind hits such as Fleabag, The Traitors and Gogglebox. The for £1.15 billion ($1.5 billion) deal is the largest for RedBird IMI to date, the company said in a statement. […]

PIF's Starbucks shareholdings were cut almost by half from 6.3 million shares to 3.8 million

PIF slashes Starbucks stake as it cuts US stocks by $15bn

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has slashed its US equity holdings by 42 percent to $20.6 billion, including its stake in Starbucks, the global coffee chain that has suffered calls for a boycott as a result of the Gaza conflict. The latest US government data highlights funding challenges facing the Saudi giga-projects.  The filing […]

Tunisia olives

Soaring olive oil exports help Tunisia balance books

Tunisia’s soaring olive oil exports have almost doubled to close to $1 billion in just five months, helping it claw back its current account deficit.   However the increased revenues merely “paint over the cracks” and the country is still probably heading towards a sovereign default, according to an economic expert. Tunisia’s current account deficit narrowed […]

Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani attends licensing rounds for 29 oil and gas exploration blocks at the oil ministry's headquarters in Baghdad

Falling oil prices deepen Iraq’s fiscal imbalances, says IMF

Iraq’s fiscal imbalances have worsened due to significant fiscal expansion and lower oil prices, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The ongoing fiscal expansion is expected to boost growth in 2024 at the expense of a further deterioration of fiscal and external accounts and Iraq’s vulnerability to oil price fluctuations,” the Washington-based fund said in […]