Africa’s data centre build-out is the one part of the global boom that does not depend on artificial intelligence, according to PwC. How big it gets depends on forces outside the continent’s control: chip export rules and how far governments insist on keeping data at home.
PwC’s Global Data Centre Outlook 2026-50, published on 2 September 2026 and modelled with Oxford Economics, projects $255 billion of cumulative data centre capital spending in Africa by 2050 in its central scenario. That is a small slice of the $31.6 trillion it forecasts worldwide, and slightly below Africa’s share of global GDP.
Not a bet on AI
What sets Africa apart is what the money buys. “Africa is the only region in this forecast whose central scenario isn’t a bet on AI,” the report says. “The region is largely buying foundational digital infrastructure that pays off regardless of which AI scenario plays out.”
PwC calls that “one of the lowest-risk capex stories on the map”. South Africa anchors the market with the most established data centre base, and Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana are named as the most promising emerging markets. Kenya stands out for a grid that is about 95% renewable.
A range from $193bn to $284bn
The central figure hides a wide spread. In a scenario built around tighter export controls on advanced chips, Africa’s cumulative spending falls to $193 billion. The continent is not a direct target of those controls, but PwC says its limited semiconductor depth and weaker access to advanced equipment mean it absorbs a meaningful share of the knock-on disruption.
In a second scenario, governments and regulated industries become less willing to rely on foreign infrastructure for essential workloads such as public services, financial systems and healthcare. Global spending barely moves, but it shifts towards markets with strong domestic demand and too little capacity. Africa records “the largest proportional uplift of any region”, rising about 12% to $284 billion.
That argument is already live in markets such as Nigeria, where local cloud has become a test of digital sovereignty.
Power decides where it lands
“In every region, the same underlying rule holds: power is the binding constraint,” the report says, and policy determines how quickly it can be supplied. In South Africa, that is already visible in the transmission build behind the data centre boom.
PwC’s separate infrastructure outlook, which put South Africa’s total infrastructure spending at $582 billion by 2050, includes about $71 billion of digital infrastructure, Jarendra Reddy, PwC South Africa’s capital projects and infrastructure leader, wrote on 28 September 2026. He argues that data centres must now be planned alongside power, water and connectivity rather than on their own.
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