Global datacentre provider digital Realty has announced the launch of its first facility in Ghana. The two-storey ACR2 datacentre in Accra will mark the group’s latest move in a strategic expansion across Africa.
Stating that the new carrier-neutral facility will deliver an expected 1.7MW of installed IT capacity, and a total of 1,100 m² colocation space, the datacentre will be strategically located near major fibre routes and subsea cables, including direct access to the 2Africa cable system.
This positioning by Digital Equity is designed to establish ACR2 as a key interconnection point, enhancing the country’s links to the global digital economy.
The expansion comes as Ghana’s digital economy continues to grow. Signalling a maturing market, Digital Realty's entry places it in direct competition with players such as MainOne (owned by Equinix), PAIX Data Centres, and MTN, while the National Information Technology Agency has its own carrier-neutral datacentres
The primary driver for this investment, according to Digital Realty, is the increasing demand from enterprises for local data sovereignty and security compliance.
Joseph Koranteng, MD, Digital Realty in Ghana, said: “Enterprises no longer have to choose between compliance and performance.”
Digital Realty is one of the world's largest datacentre operators, with over 300 facilities globally. Its African presence was cemented by the 2022 acquisition of Teraco in South Africa and includes four active facilities in Lagos, Nigeria, alongside operations in Kenya and Mozambique.
The move into Ghana is central to the company’s vision of building a pan-African platform connecting high-growth markets.
This rise in demand for in-country datacentre facilities across Africa is primarily fuelled by the proliferation of new data protection laws across the continent, which mandate data be stored within national boundaries. This is combined with the mass deployment of new subsea cables, which provide the necessary bandwidth to support world-class facilities closer to end-users, as well as reduced latency.
“It’s not only about data sovereignty – it’s about giving enterprises in Ghana the same infrastructure quality they’d find in London, Amsterdam, or Johannesburg, without leaving Accra,” said Koranteng.
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