US-based investment company First Brick Holdings is investing $50 million into an African expansion that will bring five Tier III data centers to the continent.

Over the next three years, the company will focus on building infrastructure in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania. The first five data centers are expected to go live by 2021.

East Africa expansion

First Brick Holdings was set up in 2018 to build multiple data centers across Eastern and Southern Africa. The company’s first project was its Raxio data center in Kampala, Uganda.

Once completed later this year, the Raxio project will be the first Tier III, carrier-neutral data center in the country, the company claims.

The data center will be able to house up to 400 racks, delivering 1.5MW of IT power at final phase and will be located 15km from Kampala in the Namanve Industrial and Business Park, Raxio. The building is being designed by Future Tech, a UK-based firm specialized in data center developments.

Robert Mullins, executive director at First Brick Holdings, said: “Demand for data center services in Africa is on the rise. This is being driven by improving connectivity levels, rising data traffic volumes and a growing demand for secure, stable operating environments for data traffic. Data centers are needed to serve a range of data-dependent services on the continent from cloud solutions to content delivery networks.

“We’re delighted at how Raxio Data Center is progressing, with customers and carriers signing up and construction proceeding at a rapid pace.”