Vantage Expands to Africa with $1B Flagship Data Center Campus in Johannesburg

Hyperscale data center operator Vantage Data Centers has commenced construction of its first African campus in Johannesburg, South Africa. A $1 billion investment from existing financial partners will be used to establish the new data center campus in Johannesburg.

The 80MW facility will be situated in the middle of the continent’s largest data center market, the Waterfall City, a vibrant business and data center ecosystem. This marks the arrival of Vantage onto its fifth continent. Vantage Data Centers has grown from its initial U.S. roots to two Canadian areas in early 2019, six European countries in 2020, and five Asia-Pacific markets in 2021.

“Vantage has seen strong demand from our customers for high quality, hyperscale data center facilities across the globe, and we are excited to meet this demand by expanding to Africa’s largest market,” said Sureel Choksi, president and CEO, Vantage Data Centers. “With our global expansion over the last two and half years, we have become one of the fastest growing hyperscale data center providers in the world.”

Data Center Hub African Continent

Photo Sureel Choksi, president and CEO, Vantage Data Centers
“Vantage has seen strong demand from our customers for high quality, hyperscale data center facilities across the globe, and we are excited to meet this demand by expanding to Africa’s largest market,” said Sureel Choksi, president and CEO, Vantage Data Centers.

The carrier-neutral Johannesburg data center campus will consist of three 32 acres (12 hectares) of data center space, which had once been built to a level of 650,000 square feet (60,000 square feet). A 16MW building is scheduled to be finished during the first phase of the campus in the summer of 2022.

“Johannesburg is the data center hub for sub-Saharan Africa due to its strategic location, IT ecosystem, fiber connectivity to the rest of Africa and the availability of renewable energy,” said Antoine Boniface, president, Vantage EMEA. “We look forward to not only opening the doors of our first African facility to our customers, but also to becoming part of the local community. Our first campus has a planned investment of more than $1 billion, and it will create hundreds of jobs to positively impact the local economy.”

Sustainability

The design of the new 80MW data center is based on the Vantage standardized campus plan, which focuses on sustainable building techniques such as renewable energy sources, carbon reduction and energy efficient operations, with an industrial efficiency (PUE).

In order to conserve important resources, sustainable construction elements include permitted planting and natural drainage on site. In addition to charge stations for electric vehicles, Vantage Data Centers will invest in the recycling, LED lighting for motion sensors and other components for increasing energy and water savings on campus.

Power, Cooling, Security

Powered by ESKOM, the data center campus would benefit from a dedicated on-site, high-voltage substation. It will be cooled with a highly efficient, refrigerated water system produced by air-cooled chillers. An integrated economics system will permit a reduction in external compressor energy, such that cooling is sustainable and resource-intensive if the weather is good.

A security operations center (SOC) with 24x7x365 patrols, perimeter security, CCTV on all entry points, and a multi-level authentication and access control system for workers, clients and visitors are the main security measures of the firm.

Vantage Data Centers also creates “comfortable” employee and customer areas to assist staff to achieve their best. Amenities will include dedicated offices and workspaces, break areas, conference rooms, meeting spaces and safe storage areas.