Adil El Youssefi, newly-appointed CEO of Africa Data Centres (ADC), says his long-term vision is to attract and retain top talent in the data centre industry, to continue providing clients in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and Lagos with co-location services.
ADC, which forms part of the Liquid Intelligent Technologies Group, bills itself as Africa’s largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data facilities.
El Youssefi, who took office on 1 March, tells ITWeb his new position is “very important and exciting”, because data centres are at the core of the digital transformation revolution, which is key to Africa’s economic development.
His mission is to meet Africa’s accelerating demand for data and digital infrastructure – a task he approaches with optimism and determination, he notes.
Before taking on the CEO role at ADC, El Youssefi was CEO of Ear & War,a division of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, based in Kenya. He joined the company in April 2017 as CEO of Liquid’s operations in Kenya.
Many companies are struggling with managing their IT workloads, amid increasing demand for digital services, expanding internet penetration, and the need for scalable infrastructure – key factors driving the demand for cloud adoption in Africa, he says.
“Africa's cloud adoption is advancing rapidly, with significant opportunities for growth and innovation. More and more African businesses are transitioning at least some workloads to the cloud, with some companies having almost all workloads in a cloud environment.”
He aims to make ADC a leader in attracting and retaining top talent in the industry. “My goals will be achieved by harnessing the opportunities offered to us in the marketplace and leveraging our people and physical assets in ADC and across the Cassava Technologies Group to capture these opportunities.”
According to El Youssefi, cloud adoption rates differ in various sectors. Technology, media and telecommunications companies seem to have the highest adoption rates, while financial services have lower adoption rates, probably due to regulatory restrictions.
“Despite this accelerated growth in adoption rates across Africa, there are still some notable challenges, such as legal and regulatory constraints, data residency laws, and limited data centre presence, which are still significant roadblocks to cloud adoption. Other known challenges are shortage of skills, cyber security risks and data sovereignty concerns.”
Robust AI infrastructure required
ADC operates three South African facilities in Midrand (JHB1), Centurion (JHB2) and Cape Town (CPT1). A fourth facility is under construction in Cape Town (CPT2).
In June, the firm secured R2 billion in funding to increase its data centre capacity in SA. The funding was facilitated through a bespoke financing solution arranged by Rand Merchant Bank.
Across its South African facilities, the company has 30MW of capacity in total and is building an extra 20MW.
El Youssefi points out that the uptake of artificial intelligence (AI) applications has significantly boosted demand for ADC’s data centre services in SA. This surge is driven by the growing need for robust infrastructure to support AI and machine learning workloads.
“Our three data centres in South Africa have been performing well, with significant clientele growth in recent years. We've seen an increase in demand for cloud, co-location and connectivity services from local and international businesses. Our flagship data centre in Johannesburg, JHB1, has been fully occupied, with a growing demand for cloud and co-location services. We've seen a significant increase in demand from local businesses, particularly in the financial services sector.
“Our second data centre in Johannesburg, JHB2, has also seen significant growth, with a diverse range of customers from various industries. We've seen a growing demand for cloud services from local businesses, particularly in the retail and e-commerce sectors. Our data centre in Cape Town, CPT1, has witnessed growing demand for cloud and connectivity services from local and international businesses.”
The company is concluding critical design, procurement and contracting processes to ensure the fourth facility aligns with its long-term infrastructure and client requirements, he continues.
El Youssefi says he is working towards seeing the successful launch of the first Africa AI Factory in Africa.
ADC’s parent company, Cassava Technologies, through its subsidiary, Cassava AI, in March announced the launch of the AI factory in partnership with NVIDIA – where thousands of GPUs will be deployed in ADC’s data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
This significant investment made by Cassava AI seeks to ensure Africa doesn’t lag behind in the AI revolution, he adds.
“Businesses are increasingly adopting AI and machine learning solutions, which require large amounts of data processing and storage. Cassava AI provides on-hand guidance to customers, assisting them throughout their AI adoption journey.
“Cloud AI enables enterprises to utilise AI's full potential, including machine learning, natural language processing and computer vision.
“The growing adoption of internet of things devices is also driving demand for data centre services to process and store the vast amounts of data generated. In addition, the increasing popularity of cloud gaming and streaming services resulted in the increasing demand for low-latency, high-performance data centre infrastructure.”
Other emerging technologies contributing to rising demand for its data centre services in SA include high-performance computing applications, like data analytics and scientific simulations, which require powerful computing capabilities, he points out.
“These emerging technologies further drive data centre demand, and smart city initiatives, which means that as urban areas become increasingly connected, the need for data centres to manage and process data from various sources grows.
“5G networks and edge computing, which require data centres to be located closer to users, reducing latency and improving performance, as well as the increasing and keen focus on sustainable and renewable energy sources, all transform the data centre landscape in South Africa. We’ve seen major investments in infrastructure and a growing focus on sustainability and innovation,” El Youssefi concludes.
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