(Agence Ecofin) - Faced with the rapid growth of digital services and cyber threats, African countries must strengthen their data sovereignty. Local data centers are becoming essential for securing information, supporting digital transformation, and fostering national innovation.
The pan-African IT services company ST Digital inaugurated, on Thursday 2 October, its Tier 3 data center in the VITIB technology free zone in Grand-Bassam. This infrastructure, the first of its kind in Côte d'Ivoire, lays the foundations for more autonomous and secure management of national data.
"With this facility, our digital momentum takes on a new dimension. In a context where digitalisation is accelerating and cyberattacks are multiplying, having local infrastructure is essential to protect our data," emphasises Anthony Same, Chief Executive Officer of the ST Digital group.
Designed across three modules, the data centre can accommodate approximately 160 racks of 42 servers each, totalling more than 6,000 physical servers and over 50,000 virtual servers. "It is eco-responsible, partially built with local materials and perfectly integrated into its environment," states Steve Tchouaga, Managing Director of the Ivorian subsidiary. The entire project was designed and carried out by Ivorian experts, with international supervision, over a period of eight months.
This initiative responds to an observation. The majority of sensitive data belonging to businesses and public administrations had until now been stored abroad. By localising these infrastructures, ST Digital aims to strengthen the country's digital sovereignty while remaining open to international exchanges.
The data center will serve public administrations, businesses, start-ups, and national projects alike, hosting data and applications in compliance with national standards. It is also expected to foster the development of local skills, create direct and indirect jobs, and support the emergence of rare expertise in the digital sector.
According to global statistics, nearly 8,000 data centers are currently operational worldwide. At the African level, according to Heirs Technologies, a specialist in digital transformation, South Africa accounts for nearly a quarter of the continent's infrastructure with 49 centres, followed by Kenya (18), Nigeria (16) and Egypt (14). Côte d'Ivoire currently has 5, with the VITIB data center representing a major milestone in the development of local digital infrastructure.
With 232 administrative services now available online, ST Digital's data centre will play a key role in securing and optimising these services. It will enable the centralisation of data processing, ensure the resilience of digital infrastructures and support the development of new solutions for businesses and citizens.