Nxtra by Airtel Africa, the data centre subsidiary of Airtel Africa, has officially broken ground on the construction of East Africa’s largest hyperscale data centre at Tatu City, Kiambu County. The 44MW facility is scheduled to be operational by the first quarter of 2027, marking a major milestone in Kenya’s positioning as a regional digital powerhouse.
The project comes at a time when Kenya’s data demand is surging, driven by rapid growth in cloud computing, AI adoption, digital payments, and mobile applications. The facility will provide secure, scalable, and carrier-neutral data infrastructure, attracting local enterprises, international cloud providers, fintech firms, AI startups, and content delivery networks.
The data centre will be housed within Tatu City, a rapidly expanding special economic zone (SEZ) located 30km from Nairobi’s CBD. The SEZ provides tax incentives, robust infrastructure, and strategic connectivity to undersea fiber optic cables, making it an ideal hub for data storage and processing in East Africa.
Kenya is emerging as one of Africa’s fastest-growing data centre markets, thanks to:
- High internet penetration — Over 26 million broadband subscriptions and 97% mobile penetration (CAK, 2025).
- Strong undersea connectivity — With direct access to major submarine cables like TEAMS, SEACOM, LION2, and PEACE, Kenya offers low-latency connections to Europe, Asia, and the U.S.
- A renewable energy advantage — Over 90% of Kenya’s electricity comes from clean, renewable sources such as geothermal, hydro, and wind, making it an attractive destination for sustainable data centres.
- Government’s Digital Superhighway Agenda — A key pillar of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) focused on cloud infrastructure, e-government services, and digital jobs.
According to Research and Markets (2025), Kenya’s data centre industry is projected to grow at a 15.4% CAGR through 2030, reaching an estimated market value of KES 55 billion. This expansion is being fueled by demand from financial services, e-commerce platforms, streaming services, and AI-powered applications.
Nxtra’s Strategic Vision
The 44MW Nxtra facility at Tatu City is part of Airtel Africa’s pan-African digital infrastructure strategy, which includes building multiple hyperscale data centres across the continent to meet skyrocketing cloud and AI demands.
Nxtra aims to:
- Reduce data hosting dependency on Europe and Asia by keeping Kenyan data within Kenyan borders.
- Provide AI-ready computing environments capable of supporting high-density workloads like machine learning, deep analytics, and edge computing.
- Enhance regional cloud adoption by enabling seamless hybrid and multi-cloud deployments for local businesses and global players.
Economic and Employment Impact
The project is expected to deliver significant socio-economic benefits, including:
- Job creation: Over 2,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction and operational phases.
- Boost to startups: Providing affordable hosting and cloud access to Kenya’s growing fintech and AI ecosystem.
- Support for SMEs: Lowering data hosting costs and enabling digital-first business models.
- Improved service delivery: Faster, more secure, and localized data processing for banks, healthcare, education, and e-government platforms.
Timeline and Readiness
- Groundbreaking: September 2025
- Construction Phase: 2025 – 2026
- Testing and Integration: Late 2026
- Go-Live: Q1 2027
By the time it launches, the Nxtra facility will become the largest data centre in East Africa, significantly boosting Kenya’s competitiveness in the regional tech economy.
