BoFiNet Builds Biggest Data Centre In Botswana
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday March 15, 2021 16:24
The state-of-the-art facility, owned by the State-owned wholesale provider of national and international telecommunications infrastructure, will host at least 400 racks in 1, 000 square metres of white space.
BoFiNet CEO, Mabua Mabua said the Data Centre will enhance the country’s ICT infrastructure and bring the internet, public, private cloud and the global digital economy closer to Botswana.
“Upon completion the Data Centre will be the biggest in Botswana. It will be built on a 7, 000 square metre piece of land and will be made up of two floors of 500 square metre each, to facilitate segregation of customers and enhance security further,” he said.
Mabua added the project is anticipated to accelerate the digital transformation initiative driving the digital economy.
“It will be a vehicle that businesses can leverage to draw digitally closer to content, staff, customers and the cloud. At BoFiNet, we see it as an opportunity to bring home global ICT players such Google, Microsoft, Facebook and many others.” The Data Centre will have a seven point inspection levels of security with biometric and surveillance systems. Customers will be allowed to even cage their racks inside the facility with enhanced security.
The facility will also offer a total number of 78 seats, some of which will be reserved for those clients who would want to rent seats next to their services. In addition BoFiNet said as part of the Centre they have plans to host cloud-services and other related services, to give Botswana customers and some in neighbouring countries the best customer service.
The contract was awarded to Zhong Gan Engineering and Construction Company February 2021. Zhong Gan will engage 40% citizen contractor’s participation and that shall be monitored closely to ensure realisation of the intended citizen empowerment.
The Data Centre will be strategically located at the Science and Technology Park and scheduled to take eight months of construction.
The Centre which will be certified by the Uptime Institute, a global advisory organisation focused on improving the performance, efficiency, and reliability of business critical infrastructure in the ICT industry.