Airtel Africa has delayed the opening of its $150 million Nxtra data centre in Kenya to July 2027, extending the timeline for what is expected to become East Africa’s largest data centre.
The facility, located in Tatu City, Nairobi, will deliver 44 megawatts (MW) of capacity, nearly ten times larger than existing facilities in the region—and is expected to strengthen cloud infrastructure, AI adoption, and enterprise digital services across East Africa.
The revised timeline was announced by Airtel Kenya’s Managing Director, Djibril Tobe, who confirmed that construction remains on track despite the later operational date.
A major investment in Africa’s digital infrastructure
The data centre forms part of Airtel Africa’s broader infrastructure strategy to meet growing demand for cloud computing, enterprise hosting, artificial intelligence, and secure data storage.
Construction began in September 2025, with the project designed to be completed in two phases of 22MW each.
Earlier this year, Airtel secured $1 billion in investment for its data centre business, Nxtra, valuing the company at $3.1 billion. The funding is supporting expansion across both India and Africa, including planned facilities in Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Global technology companies show early interest
According to Airtel Kenya, discussions are already underway with major global technology companies including Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and Apple, which are exploring opportunities to host services within the facility.
Local hosting would reduce latency, improve cloud performance, enhance AI applications, and provide faster digital experiences for businesses and consumers across East Africa.
Africa’s demand for digital infrastructure continues to rise as businesses adopt cloud technologies, AI applications, fintech services, and digital government platforms.
Large-scale data centres are becoming strategic assets that help countries improve digital sovereignty, attract global technology investment, and support local innovation ecosystems.
Although the launch has been pushed back, Airtel’s investment reinforces growing confidence in Africa’s digital economy and positions Kenya as a major regional technology hub.
