Airtel Kenya, in partnership with Nxtra by Airtel Africa, has broken ground on East Africa’s largest data centre, an investment that is set to strengthen Kenya’s role as a regional technology hub and open new opportunities for businesses, investors, and governments.
The Tier III-plus facility, located at Tatu City, will deliver 44 megawatts of power capacity and is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027. Built to international standards, it will feature 99.99% uptime, multiple redundant fibre paths, high-power density racks, seven-layer security systems, and energy-efficient operations.
For investors and enterprises, the project signals expanding opportunities in Kenya’s digital economy. The centre will serve hyperscalers, multinational corporations, and governments, providing infrastructure to support cloud computing, artificial intelligence workloads, and high-performance applications. It is expected to stimulate private equity interest, attract regional tech investments, and create a reliable platform for fintechs, startups, and data-driven industries.
During construction, the initiative is projected to generate jobs and boost local supply chains. Once operational, it will create highly skilled technical roles and increase demand for supporting industries, from energy to ICT equipment.
Government and industry leaders said the project will reinforce Kenya’s status as the “Silicon Savannah” while aligning with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, which prioritizes digital transformation as a growth driver. The centre also positions Kenya to capture a larger share of Africa’s data hosting market, which has seen rising demand from cloud providers and international enterprises.
Airtel Kenya said the investment reaffirms its long-term commitment to Kenya and the broader East African region, with a focus on serving customers better, powering businesses, supporting governments, and unlocking opportunities for communities across Africa.
