Vantage Data Centers' three-data center campus project in South Africa (Waterfall City). © Vantage Data Centers

In Focus | Africa
Will giants Microsoft, Amazon and Huawei outpace African operators in race to dominate the Cloud?

By Clotilde Ravel

Published on 15.11.2021 at 06:00 GMT Reading time 7 minutes

Though there are still very few data centres on the African continent, in no small part due to a lack of reliable power, a few independent groups have managed to break into the sector. But they are now facing a serious challenge with the arrival of the world's internet giants, which are targeting South Africa to place their infrastructure.

The colossal South African city-state of Waterfall City, built from scratch in the early 2010s on a 2,200-hectare site halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria to house a state-of the-art business hub, is to become home to "the continent's largest data centre". With this entry onto the African market, the US firm Vantage Data Centers has opted for

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