Dr. Bawumia unveils Ghana’s first Tier IV data centre
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has expressed satisfaction in the high level of interest being shown by foreign investors in improving Ghana’s digital infrastructure.
This follows the opening of Ghana’s first Tier IV Data Center in Accra on Thursday.
Known as the Onix data centre, the US$48 million investment adds to Ghana’s existing data centre, which will serve, not only the local market but also the sub-region.
According to the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the establishment of the ultra-modern data centre is in line with government’s vision to make Ghana a digital hub in the sub-region, and the massive investment will offer businesses more alternatives for sensitive data storage.
“This strategic investment by the African Investment management will assist the government to realize our digitization goals as it continues to build new systems to change the old ways of doing things. The initial investment and subsequent ones are and will be in excess of US$48 million, which represents tangible proof that foreign investors continue to have faith in our digital transformation agenda in Ghana.”
“Again, in late 2021, Onix was certified as the only African-based carrier-neutral collocation data center outside of South Africa to be awarded the coveted uptime institute Tier V accreditation. This, therefore, makes Ghana the only hub with the only Tier IV data center in West Africa,” he mentioned.
The Onix data centre, owned by African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), is the most complex data storage system with the most redundant components, which only a few countries in Africa have.
As a Tier IV enterprise-class facility, which is the highest level for a data center, Onix will offer stable, reliable, and uninterrupted service with an annual expected uptime of 99.995%. To enhance the security of data, the Data Center has 2.5 times the amount of required backup, when maintenance or planned or unplanned disruptions occur.
Kwame Edem Scott, the Head of Sales for Onix Data Centre tells Citi Business News the Tier IV data centre satisfies the increasingly stringent requirements laid down by regulated entities such as telecommunications companies, banks, social media companies, health care facilities, the education sector and various arms of the government which house sensitive information.
“If you watch the technological trends in the world now, everyone is looking at Africa as the next big changer. So we have inadequate data centers in the country, especially Tier IV facilities. When we look at the world-class providers, they don’t go to any data centre other than Tier IV, so this one is strategically set up for the local market and also can appeal to the international market.”
Chief Executive Officer of Onix, Michael Nahon, spoke about how the opening of this data centre contributes to solving the unemployment problem in Ghana.
“By working with strategic partners in Ghana, Onix will increase the skill capacity of the youth in Ghana, with a specific focus on girls and women in tech, to bridge the gender divide. We are certain that our launch will add a substantial amount of employment opportunities into the market, not only in the data center itself, but in associated industries.”