F E A T U R E
used to charge the more than 1 billion mobile phone handsets as people rush to get connected and online.
According to the GSMA The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2022 report there will be 613 million unique mobile subscribers by 2025 covering 50 % of the population( of which 41 million will be 5G connections). Mobile is forecast to generate US $ 154 billion in economic value by 2025. Nigeria boasted 199.6 million mobile connections as of March 2022, according to the West African country’ s Communication Commission( NCC).
GSMA Intelligence data also showed that there were 108.6 million cellular mobile connections in South Africa at the start of 2022, equivalent to 179.8 % of its population. Egypt’ s 98.29 million mobile users during the first quarter of 2022, represents 93.4 % of its population.
Yet currently in central Africa, 39 % of the population lives outside a mobile broadband coverage area. This figure is 16 % for West Africa, 13 % for East Africa and 12 % in Southern Africa. In all, it is estimated that 43 % of the entire African population is still without smartphone access.
Africa: More than a distributed and rural data story
Africa is not just a story of remoteness and rurality. Africa’ s 10 largest cities amount to 55 million people living in the continent’ s biggest metros. Building and running the data centres required to support the businesses in these metros and how they serve a growing and ever more connected population means facing up to new challenges from dealing with unreliable grids to finding sustainable energy.
The data centre sector should look to the‘ leapfrogging’ efforts of the power and mobile sectors of off-grid power and network rollouts. In the power supply areas, industrial microgrids are being built around a combination of renewable sources( where available) and on-site engine-based power generation. Power companies are onto the huge opportunities for leapfrogging outside the major cities – avoiding vast and costly fixed power line investment by jumping straight to solar and wind for power generation and building community, rural and networked microgrids.
Leapfrogging is not a panacea but it shows that in power and telecoms, new thinking in supply and demand is facilitating rapid adoption and expansion.
New designs and operations
This is one reason among many that points to new data centre development in Africa requiring new thinking, new designs and new ways of operating.
The use of microgrids and battery energy storage systems( BESS) can enable data centres to operate independently of the main utility grid or use a combination of grid and renewable power sources. The BESS stores excess renewable energy generated during times of low demand and releases it when needed. In doing so, it overcomes intermittency issues to extend the usefulness of renewable power and reduce reliance on nonrenewable sources.
The African battery market and value chain could lead to the generation of thousands of jobs across the continent and a market revenue estimated to reach US $ 1 billion by 2030. This market is driven by behind-the-metre( BTM) battery installations including UPS, telecom, rooftop solar, solar home lighting systems and microgrids.
Beyond the direct resources that data centres can provide through district heating and cooling schemes from combined heat and power( CHP) systems within the facilities and feeding power to microgrids, data centres can also play a role in supporting social initiatives beyond their core operations.
In this respect, data centre developments hold the potential to be a catalyst for a host of power and connectivity investments. They can for example partner with sustainable, affordable housing developers. There are also many opportunities for partnering with local organisations to provide digital literacy programs or supporting education and healthcare services in underserved areas, helping to bridge the digital divide and enhance overall societal well-being.
Africa is an emerging powerhouse that nationally and regionally will decide its own digital infrastructure future according to its resources. For engineers and designers, the game starts sidestepping traditional thinking and leapfrogging to a sustainable future. �
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