[New Video] A Tour of Africa Data Centres’ State of the Art NBO1 Date Centre Facility in Nairobi, Kenya.

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Last month, I had the unique opportunity to tour Africa Data Centres’ (ADC) NBO1 facility, one of East Africa’s most connected and longest-serving commercial data centres. This visit was part of a podcast session I had with Dan Kwach, Regional Executive for East Africa at ADC, where we discussed the facility’s role in enabling the East African region’s digital transformation.

ADC, as Africa’s largest network of interconnected, carrier- and cloud-neutral data centres, is pivotal to the region’s digital economy. The NBO1 facility, strategically located at Sameer Industrial Park in Nairobi, has been operational for over 12 years, playing host to over 100 network service providers and a significant portion of East Africa’s hyperscalers and enterprise clients. This facility is more than just a data centre — it’s a backbone of Kenya’s digital transformation, supporting financial institutions, telcos, and global cloud providers alike.

Technical Insights.

Throughout the tour, I learned about the facility’s intricate technical features, such as:

• Over 3MW of IT power capacity, ensuring scalability for enterprise customers and hyperscalers.
• Hosting 70% of East Africa’s financial institutions, highlighting its critical role in the regional economy.
• Direct connectivity to all major undersea cables in East Africa via partnerships with key providers, ensuring high-speed, low-latency connections for international and local traffic.
• The integration of AI-ready infrastructure, enabling the facility to support emerging workloads as the demand for machine learning and artificial intelligence grows.

Unparalleled Security Protocols.

Our tour began with a clear emphasis on security. Access to the facility is tightly controlled through multi-tiered systems, including pre-authorizations, ID scanning, and biometric checks. The entire property is under constant CCTV surveillance, with restricted zones that ensure only authorized personnel can access specific areas.

The Monitoring Room.

From there, we entered the monitoring room, a critical component of the facility’s operations. This room operates 24/7, with staff monitoring real-time metrics such as temperature, humidity, power load, and network performance. Any anomaly, no matter how minor, is flagged and addressed immediately. This proactive approach ensures that the facility operates at optimal conditions, critical for the uptime demands of its Tier III certification.

Data Halls.

The highlight of the tour was the data halls, where rows of servers and racks hum quietly. These halls are designed with dual power supply systems, ensuring redundancy to maintain uninterrupted operations. The cold aisle and hot aisle setup is essential for efficient thermal management, which minimizes energy consumption while maintaining optimal operating temperatures. Another aspect that caught my attention was the fire suppression system, which uses IG541 gas. Unlike water-based systems, IG541 is environmentally friendly and ensures that sensitive equipment remains unharmed in the event of a fire.

Power Infrastructure.

ADC’s power infrastructure is one of its defining features. The facility is fed by two independent Kenya Power substations to guarantee redundancy at the grid level. For additional security, the NBO1 facility has its own fleet of industrial-grade generators, capable of sustaining operations for extended periods during outages. Furthermore, the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems add yet another layer of resilience, ensuring zero downtime for clients.

Sustainability Focussed.

A key feature of the NBO1 facility is its commitment to sustainability. The facility is partially powered by solar panels, not just on its own rooftop but also on neighboring buildings. This effort demonstrates ADC’s dedication to reducing its carbon footprint while maintaining high operational standards. The water-free cooling system, combined with energy-efficient designs, makes this one of the most environmentally responsible data centres in East Africa.

Conclusion.

Africa Data Centres’ NBO1 facility is more than just a building filled with servers. It’s a hub of innovation, sustainability, and resilience that is critical to Kenya’s and East Africa’s ambitions of becoming a regional digital leader. From its unmatched uptime record to its environmentally conscious operations, ADC is setting the standard for data centres in Kenya, East Africa and the rest of Africa.