IXAfrica co-founders Guy Willner and Clement Martineau talk site selection , sustainability , and how to Keep it Africa as they bring the hyperscale to Nairobi
IX AFRICA
IXAfrica co-founders Guy Willner and Clement Martineau talk site selection , sustainability , and how to Keep it Africa as they bring the hyperscale to Nairobi
The data centre industry - prompted by soaring demand from throughout an increasingly digitalised global economy - is growing everywhere . It ’ s in emerging markets , however , where that growth takes on a true sense of urgency .
“ People talk a lot about the edge , and the idea I ' m pushing a lot is what I call The Big Edge ,” says Guy Willner , a 20 year veteran of data centre build outs throughout Europe , Russia , and Africa . Willner is the co-founder and Chairman of both iXcellerate - which operates seven data centres across its two Moscow campuses - and IXAfrica , a Kenyanfocused project in the process of building out the first hyperscale campus in the nation ’ s capital of Nairobi . He elaborates : “ The edge is a train station in Northampton - a drop off place for Netflix or whomever ; the Big Edge is Lagos , the capital of Nigeria with a population of 210mn people . It ' s all the cities around the world with more than a million people but without the digital infrastructure to match .” Nairobi , which has a thriving startup community , a rapidly digitalising economy , and - along with the rest of Kenya and its neighbours - lies at the heart of a latency zone that is home to approximately 300mn people , undeniably fits the bill . And IXAfrica isn ’ t the only data centre operator looking to captialise on what Willner calls a “ tsunami of demand sweeping across emerging markets right now for hyperscale infrastructure .” He adds : “ Whereas a lot of the hyperscalers and internet companies have cloud regions , even in smaller European countries , and across Southeast Asia in particular , they ' re Top : Guy Willner Bottom : Clement Martineau
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