iXAfrica (NBOX1) Data Center

iXAfrica Data Centres in Nairobi, Kenya, is an award-winning facility recognized as East Africa’s first and largest hyper-scale, carrier-neutral, and AI-ready data centre. It serves as the region's latest digital habitat for cloud services, colocation, and connectivity. The first phase, NBOX1, is now open for business, providing world-class, resilient infrastructure that forms a vital part of the internet backbone for East Africa.

The Nairobi campus is strategically situated on a 4.3-acre site on Mombasa Road. This major highway provides access to all 7 subsea cables landing in the region. The campus is located next to the main fiber optic communication arteries and is in close proximity to major and resilient electrical connections, ensuring high availability and robust connectivity for its clients.

iXAfrica boasts the largest data centre project in the greater East African region, designed to serve a total population of 300 million people. The current Nairobi Campus has an overall design capacity of 22.5MW. Furthermore, a significant campus expansion is planned on an 11-acre site in Tilisi, on the outskirts of Nairobi, which will add a capacity of 53 MW.

The first operational data centre on the campus, NBOX1, delivers 4.5 MW of IT power across 1,653 Sqm of white space. This phase includes 780 racks capable of handling high-density loads up to 30 kW per rack. The facility is segmented into 3 data halls and features 4 Meet-Me-Rooms (MMRs), 4 secure and diverse fiber entry points, and 2,500 Sqm of Teleport Satellite Space.

The campus is designed for high efficiency and sustainability, operating with a low PUE of 1.25. It draws power from a grid where over 90% of Kenya’s electricity is generated from renewable/clean energy sources. NBOX1's power infrastructure is supported by 2 x 4.5MVA feeders on 11 KV (with a 66 KV substation planned) and 2 x 2.5 MW continuous duty generators. It features N+1 redundancy on switchgear and generators, with UPS distributed redundancy (4 to make 3) ensuring a 2N supply to each rack.

The purpose-built facility ensures high security and reliability. It is protected by a fenced perimeter, mantrap entry, 24/7 CCTV surveillance, and card access control. The centre is staffed 24/7 by both security and technical personnel and features an automatic fire suppression system. The site uses high-efficiency N+1 Indirect Adiabatic Cooling (IAC) and offers amenities including conference rooms, breakrooms, office space, and ample parking.