Interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities network Africa Data Centres has acquired a Tier IV data centre in Johannesburg from Standard Bank.

The acquisition by the group, which is part of the Liquid Telecom Group, is expected to disrupt the South African data centre and co-location market, while consolidating its position as the largest pan-African provider of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centres.

The transaction has been unconditionally approved by the South African Competition Commission.

“The facility is widely recognised as the most prestigious and highly specified data centre anywhere in Africa, offering world-leading levels of security, resilience and capacity,” said Africa Data Centres CEO Stephane Duproz.

The data centre, available on an open-access basis, will redefine the data centre experience for regional, continental and global customers.

“The unique combination of this outstanding facility and Africa Data Centres’ certified operational excellence is the ideal choice for the most demanding organisations, especially those in the financial services sector, who require the highest standards of security and resilience for their information technology (IT) infrastructure,” he continued.

The Johannesburg facility, which had been purpose-built as a Tier IV data centre with maximum levels of security and reliability, features complete redundancy across all power and cooling components, physical security and seamless scalability for expansion.

The site will also operate on a fully carrier- and cloud-neutral basis, in line with all Africa Data Centres’ facilities.

Meanwhile, Africa Data Centres has started work on a further 10 MW IT capacity facility at its Midrand campus to meet unprecedented levels of demand from national, continental and global customers.

“We are investing heavily in South Africa at the moment, as well as the rest of Africa. We are very confident in the future of South Africa, hence this significant investment,” said Liquid Telecom Group executive chairperson Strive Masiyiwa.

The group operates facilities in Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Kenya.

Plans are at an advanced stage to enter West Africa, with land secured to build the largest data centres in Ghana and Nigeria.