IT services firm, Atos Origin has announced plans to construct a Sh28 billion data centre at Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) in Butere, Kakamega County.
The data centre is part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation district at the City, whose completion is earmarked for end of 2022. Its completion will see the facility become the largest data centre in the region.
The Centre is expected to propel Kenya’s status as a global technology and innovation hub and a centre for attracting foreign direct investment from multinationals.
“We are building a large AI cluster focused on healthcare and agriculture. This will enable a seamless operation of the currently open Hamptons hospital, as it positions to serve the Lake region economic Bloc, with 16 million people and the larger East African region,” Julius Mwale, the principal investor said yesterday,” said Atos Origin’s Senior project manager for SADC region Virgil Chetty.
Atos, a French multinational is ranked by Gartner as number 1 in Europe in 2020 in Cloud, Cybersecurity and high performance computing and the 2nd globally in the market share for cybersecurity in the Gatner study.
According to Paul Martin, a director at KE International overseeing the AI Cluster implementation, said the entire AI cluster will cost USD1 billion (Sh100 billion), with phase one costing USD250 million (Sh25 billion).
“We want MMTC AI Cluster to support our other African projects, especially Akon City in Senegal and Uganda,” he said.
KE International was in June 2020 awarded the USD 6 billion ((Sh600 billion) contract for the construction of Akon City in Senegal. The MMTC project began in 2014 with the expected completion of 3 phases at the end of June this year, 2021.
Phase one consisted of a Hamptons Mall and Walmart supermarket among others. The second phase however includes the Hamptons Hospital among others, while phase three has the technology park.
Effect AI, a Netherlands company, is teaming up with UNDP to run Kenyan opportunity hub that will train and fund 4,000 Kenyan entrepreneurs and engineers at the research park.
“We expect 10,000 engineering/ research and entrepreneurial job opportunities to be created at the innovation district directly from the establishment of the data center,” said Dr. Maurice Siminyu the CEO at Hamptons Hospital at MMTC, adding that many local companies will receive enhanced data management by partnering with MMTC.
