Power, Patience and Potential: Inside Africa's Data centre Boom

As Africa's digital economy accelerates, few infrastructure questions loom larger than power. Ahead of Africa Tech Festival 2026 in Cape Town, we sat down with Wellington Makamure, SVP Government Relations & Public Affairs Officer at Cassava Technologies and a member of the Africa Tech Festival Leadership Council, to talk about what it really takes to build and scale data centres across the continent, and why he believes the demand story is only just getting started.

A workable power strategy starts with diversification

Energy is the single most cited constraint on data centre growth in Africa, yet operators continue to build and run facilities across the continent. So what does a genuinely workable power strategy look like on the ground today?

For Makamure, the answer lies in not relying on any single source.

"Power is a key consideration in the development of Africa's entire digital ecosystem, especially given the growing demand for cloud services, AI workloads, digital platforms, and data storage," he says. "A successful power strategy calls for a diversified approach that combines grid connectivity with renewable energy solutions, battery storage technologies, and backup systems to create resilient environments capable of supporting high-intensity workloads."

Crucially, he notes there is no single template that works everywhere. "The specific mix varies from market to market, which is why local expertise, strong partnerships, and long-term planning remain so important."

At Cassava's data centre business, Africa Data Centres, energy resilience is treated as a foundation rather than an afterthought. "We see energy resilience as a foundational element of Africa's digital future," Makamure explains. "Reliable power underpins not only data centres, but also the fibre networks, cloud services, cyber security platforms, and AI infrastructure that businesses and governments increasingly rely on."

Asked what single change, whether policy, investment, or technology, would have the biggest impact on the industry's ability to scale, his answer points away from any silver bullet and towards collaboration. "Accelerating industry growth requires deeper collaboration between operators, independent power producers, and policymakers," he says. "Aligning stable digital energy demand with new generation capacity will drive both sustainable digital transformation and economic growth."

Is the African data centre opportunity overstated?

A recent narrative in the media suggests the African data centre opportunity may be overstated, that capacity is outpacing utilisation, and that FDI headwinds combined with grid constraints are making the underlying economics fragile. Makamure pushes back on the framing.

"It's vital to understand that developers aren't building for today's demand. They're building for the next decade of digital growth," he says. "Africa's digital infrastructure story is still in its early stages, and like any emerging growth market, different countries are progressing at different speeds. Success depends on understanding local market dynamics while maintaining a long-term perspective on the continent's overall growth trajectory."

For Cassava, the bigger picture goes well beyond raw server capacity. "We view data centres as part of a broader digital ecosystem," Makamure notes. "Through the One Cassava model, we see firsthand how demand for data centre capacity is increasingly linked to fibre connectivity, cloud services, cyber security, AI infrastructure, and digital transformation programmes."

That, he argues, is where investors and developers may be misreading the demand picture. "Rather than simply adding capacity, the opportunity lies in creating the digital foundations that enable businesses, governments, and communities to participate more fully in the digital economy," he says. "For organisations taking a long-term view, the growth potential is significant."

What a healthy ecosystem looks like by 2029

Looking three years ahead, Makamure outlines three characteristics he believes will define a genuinely healthy African data centre ecosystem.

The first is reach. "Infrastructure that reaches more markets," he says. "As businesses, governments, and citizens increasingly rely on digital services, there's a growing opportunity to bring world-class infrastructure closer to where demand is emerging."

The second is policy maturity. "Policy environments that attract long-term capital," he explains. "Frameworks covering data protection, digital trade, and energy infrastructure build investor confidence. Initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area are already helping create a shared continental vision; we look forward to more such policies."

The third, and arguably the most foundational, is people. "Development of local talent and skills," Makamure says. "Talent development will also be critical; we need engineers, technicians, cyber security specialists, and digital innovators developed on the continent, instead of bringing in foreign talent."

He is clear that this isn't a future ambition starting from zero. "We've already seen significant progress in several leading markets, and the next phase of growth will be about extending those benefits more widely across the continent."

The conversation the industry needs to have

As a member of the Africa Tech Festival Leadership Council, Makamure is looking forward to a broader conversation in Cape Town this November about Africa's place in the global digital economy.

"I'm particularly looking forward to engaging with fellow members of the Leadership Council and the broader Africa Tech Festival community on how Africa can accelerate its participation in the global digital economy," he says. "What makes these conversations especially valuable is the diversity of perspectives they bring together. Building a thriving digital economy requires collaboration between the public and private sectors, and forums such as the Africa Tech Festival create an important space for such discussions."

His closing thought is as much a challenge as a vision. "For Africa to realise the full benefits of AI and digital transformation, we must continue investing in infrastructure that enables innovation to happen on the continent, by Africans and for Africans," Makamure says. "That means expanding access while also developing the talent and ecosystems that allow local solutions to flourish. The opportunity is to create African solutions to African challenges and export those innovations to the world, essentially leapfrogging traditional processes."

Wellington Makamure is SVP Government Relations & Public Affairs Officer at Cassava Technologies and a member of the Africa Tech Festival Leadership Council for 2026.

Secure your place for Africa Tech Festival 2026.