Data Centres And Africa’s Infrastructure Challenge: Growth, Resources And Resilience.

If water inside the data centre is not the problem, water outside it may well be. The more pressing question for South Africa, and for Africa more broadly, is whether supporting infrastructure, including pipelines, pump stations and treatment works, can accommodate new data centres during water-intensive construction and through decades of operation. However, this challenge is not limited to data centres. Economic growth across sectors, including mining, renewable energy and commercial operations, depends on reliable service delivery based on well-maintained infrastructure and availability of resources.

This is not a hypothetical concern. Cape Town’s “Day Zero” crisis of 2017 to 2018 brought a major city to the brink of switching off its taps, and Gauteng’s water system is today under visible strain, with the SAHRC itself convening an inquiry into the water crisis in the province.