Executives at GITEX say Africa's data center future hinges on energy access

Africa holds less than one percent of global data center capacity, but executives gathered this week in Marrakech say the continent’s untapped energy resources could reshape that within a decade.

Within the continent, Morocco is attracting large-scale foreign investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, with global players citing the country’s renewable energy capacity, submarine cable connectivity, and technical workforce as key advantages.

“This century is the century of data centers, and Africa is at a key inflection point,” said Ibrahim Adeyanju, CEO of Nigerian operator Galaxy Backbone. “Similar to when it leapfrogged landlines into mobile technology, it now has the chance to leapfrog in energy for data centers.”

Projects including South Korea’s Naver AI campus, developed with Nvidia, are among the foreign-led facilities entering Morocco, built primarily for global AI training markets and leveraging Morocco’s position rather than targeting domestic demand.

“We are no longer in the traditional data center model,” said Amine Benchekroun, vice president at Schneider Electric for Francophone Africa. “We are in a factory model, an industry like any other, which produces and trains AI.”

Morocco generates roughly 45 to 47 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, a figure the government aims to increase by 2030. Operators say green energy capacity is increasingly central to where AI infrastructure gets built.

“The more green energy we produce, the less carbon we emit, and the more we enable AI to help us decarbonize further,” Benchekroun said.

“Data centers are becoming direct monetizers of power, turning energy into revenue,” Adeyanju said. “That means they must be built where power is available, not where demand is.”

Africa’s data center capacity remains a fraction of global infrastructure. An industry report shows approximately 360 megawatts of active capacity across the continent, with 656 megawatts planned by 2030 — still roughly 0.6 percent of global capacity.

Morocco ranks fifth on the continent with eight active data centers out of 211 across Africa, though some market trackers place the figure as high as 23 facilities, ahead of long-time leaders like South Africa. The domestic market is forecast to grow at more than 11 percent annually through 2028.

Demand is being driven by AI applications expanding well beyond consumer products. “It’s the democratization of AI across all industries — healthcare, food security, mining, chemistry,” Benchekroun said. “These systems need to be trained, hosted, and provided with environments to operate.”

The traditional colocation model, Adeyanju said, is giving way to something more capital-intensive. “AI-driven data centers are extremely power-intensive and will demand even more energy in the future. The most successful players will be those who secure and control access to energy.”

“Instead of relying on weak national grids, Africa can build data centers alongside power generation sites,” Adeyanju said. “Build smaller, localized grids anchored by data centers. This would simultaneously solve both the energy challenge and the growth of digital infrastructure.”

Morocco is also positioning the sector within its broader regional strategy, sharing technical expertise with Sub-Saharan partners. “It’s aligned with South-South cooperation,” Benchekroun said. “There is collaboration across sectors, education, agriculture. Everyone benefits.”