Safaricom has announced it is building its first data center in Ethiopia’s Capital city, Addis Ababa. The project according to the mobile network operator will cost $100 million.
The data center is being launched as Safaricom looks to commence commercial operations and become the second telecom operator in Ethiopia.
Pedro Rabacal, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Safaricom Ethiopia said, “In our first year, we have $300 million worth of investment that is going in, [out of] which the data center is just one of the many building blocks.”
The CTO also disclosed that the company is investing $300 million in the country and there will be more of such data centers established in Ethiopia as the network flourishes and more subscribers are added. He said that Adama and Dire Dawa will host the first data centers before more are built across the country.
Rabacal also said that the data centers were designed by the Safaricom Ethiopia team and the company’s Chinese supplier. He also said that the facility ‘started off in China’ and was built there over several weeks before being delivered to the capital via boat.
“My team and I are very excited about being here, and about being able to build something that is really special for the Ethiopian people,” he added.
“We intend to bring the best of the best services to Ethiopia over the next ten years.”
Speaking on an investor call back in December 2021, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the “opportunities [in Ethiopia] outweigh the risks and the uncertainties”, and remarked, “telecoms market liberalization has been unquestionably positive and of value for countries across the world”.
