Equinix is scaling its Johannesburg 1 data centre to 24MW, to accommodate growing customer requirements, as demand for emerging technologies continues to escalate.
The US-headquartered digital infrastructure company officially entered SA in 2024, making a $160 million investment in its first Johannesburg-based international business exchange data centre (JN1) in Johannesburg.
The facility is located in Germiston, on the East Rand, close to the Oliver Tambo International airport.
In an interview with ITWeb during a tour of the data centre, Sandile Dube, MD for South Africa at Equinix, said the first phase of the facility has been completed, providing 4MW of capacity, while two further phases of 10MW each are planned.
“Since inception, we've received a great reception from the South African market, which I'm really grateful for,” noted Dube.
“We have quite a number of customers that have come into this particular facility and are really enjoying the benefits of being part of the Equinix ecosystem.
“What's quite important to note is we are not just a co-location provider. We’re really here to ensure all of our clients and partners form part of our global ecosystem that comprises over 10 500 customers, that comprises all of the cloud providers, that comprises systems integrators, connectivity providers and the like.”
The expansion will allow Equinix to respond to continued demand, while strengthening Johannesburg 1 as part of its wider interconnected platform, he added.
Rather than operating solely as a conventional co-location facility, the company is positioning the site as a point of access to cloud providers, connectivity companies and systems integrators.
Dube said the next stages of the Johannesburg development will be influenced by how demand develops in the South African market.
Equinix sees SA as an important connectivity hub linking businesses on the continent with international markets. Dube pointed to the country's geographic position between the Atlantic and Indian oceans, as well as its relatively developed digital infrastructure, as factors supporting its role in the regional digital economy.
“South Africa is already the gateway to the rest of Africa. We've got a stable infrastructure and we've got the most developed infrastructure compared to the rest of the continent. Johannesburg in itself is a growing interconnected hub across the continent.”
Equinix's South African strategy differs from its approach in parts of West Africa, where it entered markets through an acquisition.
In SA, the company opted to establish a greenfield operation, with Johannesburg 1 forming the foundation of that presence, he added.
AI reshapes data centre strategy
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also influencing how Equinix designs and provisions its South African infrastructure, with Johannesburg 1 built to accommodate technologies requiring significantly greater computing and cooling capacity.
According to Dube, demand for AI among South African firms is growing rapidly, driving demand for data centre infrastructure which is capable of supporting increasingly power-intensive AI workloads.
The Johannesburg facility has power capacity designed for AI workloads, as well as liquid-cooling infrastructure, which Dube said is increasingly important for enterprises deploying AI.
“We've been quite fortunate in that we are relatively new in the South African market and therefore the facility that we are in today has been designed and built with that in mind, where we are provisioning for the emergence of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence. When one looks at the power entities, for instance, that are required by AI, we have that available in Johannesburg 1.”
The infrastructure is intended to give enterprises a route to deploy AI workloads locally, while also connecting them to Equinix's broader international ecosystem.
Wait-and-see game
Equinix has earmarked R7.5 billion for its South African expansion, acquiring additional land in Johannesburg and Cape Town earlier this year, to support potential long-term growth as market demand evolve.
However, Dube insisted there is currently no development underway on the two new sites, with Equinix intending to assess market demand before deciding whether to proceed.
“So, we are at a R7.5 billion budget in terms of our expansion in South Africa as a whole. Some of the projects that we've announced are provisioned from that budget. The additional land parcels give us the option to expand over a period of time as the business evolves and demand develops.”
For now, Equinix's immediate focus remains the phased development of Johannesburg 1, with future capacity additions dependent on customer requirements and the evolution of SA’s data centre market, he concluded.
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