In a groundbreaking move for the region’s digital economy, Safaricom PLC has entered a strategic partnership with iXAfrica Data Centre, Kenya’s premier hyperscale-ready data centre operator, to launch East Africa’s first AI-ready data centre services.
The partnership unlocks a new chapter for enterprise and cloud solutions clients, offering robust, scalable, and secure infrastructure to support high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads.
It marks an important step in Kenya’s broader digital transformation strategy and positions the country at the forefront of Africa’s emerging tech infrastructure.
“As East Africa’s digital economy expands, businesses require infrastructure that supports the next wave of innovation, particularly in AI,” said Safaricom CEO, Dr. Peter Ndegwa.
“This partnership enhances our enterprise portfolio with world-class data centre services, in line with our vision to be Africa’s leading purpose-led technology company by 2030.”
Through this collaboration, Safaricom and iXAfrica will provide enterprise customers, including governments and large corporates, with a full suite of end-to-end services: data storage, backup, colocation (starting at 2U+), cloud computing, cybersecurity, and managed services.
The infrastructure is specifically engineered to handle AI-intensive workloads, supporting rapid model training, real-time analytics, and massive data throughput.
With data sovereignty and regulatory compliance top of mind for enterprise customers, the offering ensures that critical AI applications, from fraud detection in banking to supply chain optimization in retail, can now run securely within Kenya’s borders.
At the core of this partnership is iXAfrica’s NBOX1 Nairobi Campus, the largest data centre project in Greater East Africa, with a design capacity of 22.5MW.
Strategically located along major fibre routes and powered by resilient, low-carbon energy sources, the facility is purpose-built for the high-density power, cooling, and uptime requirements of modern AI and cloud-native applications.
“This is a perfect synergy of technological excellence and market leadership,” said Guy Willner, Chairman of iXAfrica.
“Together with Safaricom’s deep enterprise reach, we’re creating a digital ecosystem that accelerates innovation and drives sustainable economic growth across East Africa.”
The partnership also features a collaborative go-to-market strategy, targeting cloud-first enterprises, governments, and regional developers looking to anchor services in Kenya. Initial enterprise and cloud suites start at 350kW, with scalability to over 1MW, supporting businesses at every stage of digital maturity.
For sectors like finance, retail, healthcare, and manufacturing, this means the ability to deploy AI models for fraud prevention, hyper-personalized customer service, real-time IoT analytics, and predictive maintenance, without the latency, risk, or regulatory constraints of offshoring data.
With over 49 million subscribers, Safaricom brings a trusted brand and extensive infrastructure to the collaboration, while iXAfrica delivers technical depth and hyperscale capabilities.
This strategic alliance not only positions Kenya as a regional AI and data hub but also lays the groundwork for homegrown innovation, job creation, and long-term technology sovereignty.
