Airtel has set a July 2027 completion target for its $150 million Nxtra data centre in Tatu City, Kenya, pushing the project back from the first-quarter 2027 date announced when construction began in September 2025.
The 44MW facility is expected to become East Africa’s largest data centre by planned capacity, according to Airtel. It will host large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) applications and other data-intensive digital services.
Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Apple are discussing hosting services at the facility, said Djibril Tobe, managing director of Airtel Kenya. The technology companies have not confirmed the discussions.
“All the big players like Google, Microsoft, they’re already talking to us. Oracle and Apple are also talking to us to be able to be hosted on that data centre, because that will make their services seamless. They can mirror all the servers within that data centre, and that will enhance the customer experience,” he said.
Tobe spoke in Nairobi on Monday during the launch of Bizna Wallet, Airtel Money’s digital wallet for small businesses.
Airtel broke ground on the Nxtra project in September 2025 at a ceremony attended by William Kabogo, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for information, communications and the digital economy; Peter Ikumilu, assistant director for compliance at the Communications Authority of Kenya; Yashnath Issur, CEO of Nxtra Africa; and Ashish Malhotra, then managing director of Airtel Kenya.
The facility is designed to deliver 44MW of IT power capacity in two 22MW phases. It has a target power usage effectiveness rating below 1.4 and an availability target of 99.999%.
Its design includes high-density, graphics processing unit-ready racks to support AI workloads.
The site is in the Tatu City Special Economic Zone and will draw electricity from a dedicated 135MVA substation, supplemented by on-site solar generation.
The Nairobi project forms part of a wider expansion by Nxtra by Airtel Africa, Airtel Africa’s data centre business. Airtel has also identified Lagos, Kinshasa, Mombasa, Kampala and Dar es Salaam for expansion.
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