Energy-intensive data centers for a young continent – and how EWIA could benefit from this

Data traffic on the African continent is growing rapidly. Smartphones are becoming increasingly widespread among the young population, and AI applications consume significantly more electricity. This also necessitates a new infrastructure with local data centers, which makes the expansion of solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal projects economically attractive. One example is Lagos, Nigeria, where EWIA already has a presence.

It is not only due to massive population growth that Africa needs a lot of additional, green generated electricity. Since the digital revolution is not stopping at Africa’s borders, households, businesses, hospitals, and increasingly the continent’s data centers also require substantial amounts of green-generated electricity.

Smartphones catapult Africa into the modern age

In fact, the rapid increase in data consumption in Africa is a key driver of the continent's growing energy demand, both today and even more so in the future. Data usage via mobile devices is already increasing massively: according to the international telecommunications association GSMA (Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association), smartphone penetration in sub-Saharan Africa will rise from 51% (2022) to 87% by 2030, reports CIO Africa. At the same time, average mobile data consumption per user will nearly quadruple, from 4.6 GB per month to around 18 GB by 2028. As we all know, smartphones themselves consume more energy than “dumbphones,” so even more electricity will be needed.

This trend is further reinforced by the expansion of cloud services, fintech applications, and artificial intelligence. AI applications in particular are extremely energy-intensive: generative AI and machine learning consume up to ten times more energy than traditional internet searches. Every additional click, every transaction, and every AI query thus significantly increases the computing load in data centers.

Lagos becomes a data hub

To date, African data has primarily been managed by European data centers. However, growing data traffic is making local data centers in Africa necessary in order to reduce latency and ensure data sovereignty. This also means a massive increase in energy demand: Africa's data centers already require several hundred megawatts of electricity today, and according to forecasts, demand is expected to grow to around 2 GW by 2030, with an annual growth rate of around 9%. By way of comparison, global data center capacity is expected to rise to around 249 GW by 2030, and to as much as 374 GW when cooling is included.

This is evident in Nigeria, West Africa's powerhouse par excellence. The country's largest city, the megacity of Lagos, is, for example, a rapidly growing data center hub for West Africa, attracting major global operators such as Equinix, Africa Data Centres, Digital Realty, and Nxtra (from Airtel), as well as local players such as Rack Centre and MTN. New hyperscale facilities (such as Kasi Cloud's AI-focused campus) are scheduled to come online in 2025–2026 to meet the growing demand for cloud, AI, and digital transformation services, leveraging the city's key position with its submarine cable landing stations. EWIA already has boots on the ground in Nigeria.

For Africa, rising data consumption poses a double challenge: on the one hand, power grids are often unstable, forcing data centers to rely on expensive and environmentally harmful diesel generators. On the other hand, the constant, predictable energy requirements of data centers create strong investment incentives for new power plants, grid expansion, and renewable energies. Data centers can thus act as “anchor markets” that make the expansion of solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal projects economically attractive.

Infrastructure: We can do it

And with EWIA Infrastructure, we are already in the starting blocks with a proven track record. To date, we have already erected more than 90 radio masts (see also here).

The explosive growth in data consumption in Africa is therefore leading to a sharp increase in energy demand. At the same time, this very demand offers an opportunity to accelerate the expansion of a more modern, stable, and increasingly renewable energy infrastructure, with positive effects far beyond the digital sector. We are ready!