Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom has completed phase one of its data center in Limuru, Kenya.

Safaricom Limuru
Safaricom's Limuru facility – Safaricom

Located in Redhill, the campus will comprise three buildings. Phase one of the first building has now been completed.

Safaricom plans to provide 2.8MW of IT capacity at the end of the second phase, which will be completed in January 2026.

It is not known what IT capacity the facility will offer at the end of the full construction period. The company said the facility will be built to Tier III standards.

The company added that the data center will use free cooling and supplement power from the grid with solar energy.

The project also features an innovation lab to test new ideas, though the company did not provide details.

“When we call it world-class, we’ve already been tested in terms of best practices and industry standards, and that means we play in the same league with Google and Microsoft,” said Esther Karuga, senior manager and overall lead of the Limuru facility at Safaricom.

Limuru is located just outside of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, which is home to the likes of Digital Realty, Paix, Africa Data Centres, and MTN.

Safaricom currently operates three other facilities in and around Nairobi, in Kisumu City, Thika, and Arena. The mobile operator also has two facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.