For decades, Mombasa’s economic fortunes have been closely tied to its port, tourism and trade. Now, a new wave of investment in digital infrastructure is positioning the coastal city as a key technology hub.
Last month, Greek multinational Amaco Energy Group revealed plans to build a $1.5 billion (Sh194 billion) artificial intelligence (AI) data centre in Mombasa, seeking to tap East Africa’s growing demand for computing infrastructure.
The company has identified Dongo Kundu and Kilindini as potential locations, citing their proximity to the Port of Mombasa and the potential uptake of capacity by firms operating at the nearby Special Economic Zone.
Amaco has also partnered with US energy equipment and services company GE Vernova to provide gas turbines for the project. The Greek firm plans to integrate the turbines into its Hercules power barge, an independently powered system designed to generate electricity without relying on Kenya’s national grid.
Amaco said the proposed data centre will use an offshore liquefied natural gas-powered electricity supply, with the Hercules system processing natural gas and combining electricity generation and cooling systems into a single platform.
‘In addition, the Hercules concept has the potential to contribute significant additional power-generation capacity to support Kenya’s broader energy requirements,’ Amaco said.
The company has not announced the facility’s capacity or construction timeline, and the project awaits government approval.
Analysts say one of Mombasa’s biggest advantages in the race to attract digital infrastructure investment is its position as Kenya’s gateway to the global internet.
At least eight major submarine cable systems land at stations along the Mombasa coast, making the city a key internet gateway in the East and Central Africa region.
Mombasa is the doorway to the digital world for Kenya and its landlocked neighbours such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
This infrastructure gives the city an advantage in hosting data centres because facilities near cable landing stations can access international bandwidth with lower latency, reducing the distance data travels before reaching global networks.
The city’s coastal location also offers opportunities for more energy-efficient cooling systems.
Data centres consume immense amounts of power because they operate thousands of servers to process and store data. They also require large volumes of water for cooling systems that prevent overheating.
Large data centres can consume as much electricity as a small city.
Locating data centres at the coastline or on floating platforms can eliminate the need for fresh water for cooling.
Mombasa has also seen an increase in subsea cables, boosting Kenya’s prospects for more bandwidth and high-speed internet as demand for cloud computing, AI, digital finance and other internet services grows.
The latest infrastructure includes a 4,108-kilometre subsea fibre-optic cable running from Oman to Mombasa under a partnership between US tech giant Meta and the local telco Safaricom.
Through its subsidiary Edge Network Services Limited, Meta has signed up Safaricom as the landing partner for the Daraja high-capacity submarine cable connecting Oman and Kenya.
The cable is fully funded by Meta, supplied by French firm Alcatel Submarine Networks, and is scheduled to be ready for service this year.
The Daraja cable will be Meta’s second submarine cable connecting Kenya, following the 2Africa cable system, which was completed in November last year.
The project comprises China Mobile International, Meta, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and the West Indian Ocean Cable Company.
At 37,000 kilometres, it is one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects, connecting Europe via Egypt, the Middle East via Saudi Arabia and 21 landings in 16 African countries.
Submarine communications cables are laid on the ocean floor and transmit data between continents. They form the backbone of the global internet, carrying the bulk of international communications, including email, webpages and video calls.
It is estimated that more than 95 percent of the world’s internet traffic is transferred through undersea cables.
When submarine cables reach Mombasa’s cable landing stations, they are connected to terminal equipment, with signals then travelling overland through terrestrial fibre to data centres.
For Mombasa, analysts reckon that the growing number of subsea cables, its port infrastructure and access to the ocean could make similar innovations increasingly attractive as demand for computing capacity rises.
Existing infrastructure has also helped the city attract additional cable projects. Once the first cable, TEAMS, established landing station infrastructure in Mombasa in 2009, subsequent cables could share or co-locate at the same facilities, reducing the cost and complexity of new landings.
Kenya’s large and growing economy, combined with its role as a gateway for landlocked neighbours, is seen to create sufficient demand to justify multiple cable landings, giving Mombasa an edge in offering market access and infrastructure.