Airtel Kenya has officially commenced construction of East Africa’s largest data center at Tatu City, Nairobi, as part of a USD 150-million project aimed at boosting cloud computing, AI workloads, and enterprise services across the region.
Speaking at the launch, Airtel Kenya MD, Ashish Malhotra, described the investment as “a big, big commitment” with the initial two phases alone estimated at USD 150 million (around 18 billion shillings).
Nxtra Africa CEO, Yashnath Issur, said:
“By building the largest data center in East Africa, we are laying the groundwork for a thriving digital ecosystem that empowers businesses, supports governments, and unlocks new opportunities for communities across the region. Nxtra by Airtel will be built to the highest global standards, ensuring reliability, scalability, and energy efficiency. Beyond capacity, our focus is on sustainability and resilience, enabling customers to fully leverage next-generation technologies in a secure environment.”
The facility will feature a planned power capacity of 44 MW, high-density, GPU-ready racks, multiple redundant fiber paths, and a design PUE of less than 1.4, promising near-continuous service with 99.999% uptime. Sustainability is central to the build, leveraging renewable-heavy energy sources to ensure resilience amid Africa’s power challenges.
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Cabinet Secretary for ICT, William Kabogo, said:
“The scale and quality of this facility will firmly place Kenya on the map as a trusted host for global and regional digital infrastructure. It reflects confidence in Kenya’s policies and our vision for a digitally enabled society.”
Construction is expected to be completed by early 2027, positioning Kenya as a regional leader in digital infrastructure and signaling that the country is ready not just to consume but to host mission-critical digital services. Nxtra Africa also has plans for parallel projects in Lagos and Kinshasa, with expansions in Mombasa, Kampala, and Dar es Salaam.
With this milestone, Airtel Kenya aims to anchor Nairobi as a hub for cloud, AI, and enterprise services, setting a new benchmark for enterprise-ready data centers in Africa.
