This week, Equinix announced an investment of US$160 million (approximately 1.1 billion yuan) to develop the Johannesburg data center JN1, thereby entering the South African market and expanding its data center footprint in Africa.
According to Hong Kong IDC New World Internet, the 20MW park will be constructed in three phases. The JN1 facility will be developed as the first phase, providing 4MW capacity, including more than 690 cabinet capacity and more than 20,000 square feet (approximately 1,858 square meters) of hosting space. . When the park is fully completed, it will provide at least 3,450 cabinets and more than 100,000 square feet (approximately 9,290 square meters) of hosting space. Equinix will also source renewable energy to power the new data center to maintain low-carbon operational goals.
In December last year, Equinix acquired MainOne for US$320 million (approximately 2.22 billion yuan) to enter the African market and took over the company's data center business in Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire.
According to ResearchAndMarkets, South Africa is the largest data center market in Africa, and Johannesburg is the main investment location for data centers in South Africa, followed by Cape Town, Durban, and Centurion.
In recent months, Google’s Equiano submarine cable and the world’s longest submarine cable project, 2Africa, have successively landed in Cape Town, South Africa. Companies such as NTT Global, Vantage and Open Access Data Centers (OADC) have all deployed in South Africa.