Intelligent Data Centres Issue 28 | Page 26

PROJECT FOCUS
1 . AFRICA
The African data centre market by investment was valued at US $ 2 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach US $ 5 billion by 2026 , growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 15 % from 2021 to 2026 , according to a report by Research and Markets . The report stated that factors influencing growth include renewable power availability , Smart City initiatives and increased support for the digital economy . It also said that Egypt , South Africa , Kenya , Morocco and Ethiopia are working towards improving the share of renewable energy in the region ' s electricity generation .

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2 . EUROPE / MIDDLE EAST
Netskope , a SASE leader , announced expansion of the Netskope NewEdge network across Europe and the Middle East , with new data centres brought online in Manchester , UK ; Marseilles , France ; Zurich , Switzerland and Fujairah , UAE . All of the additional presence and capacity has been activated in direct response to customer demand , as enterprises worldwide embrace a SASE vision of converged security and networking while recognising the performance improvements that NewEdge delivers .
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