When you hear that Microsoft is to invest US$-329million into the South African data centre sector to increase cloud infrastructure and AI training, you know that the sector is about to take off, big time.
The Pan African DataCentre Exhibition & Conference is being held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, on 23-24 June, with the inaugural keynote address being delivered by Siya Madyibi, head of CELA South Africa, Microsoft, at 9.10am on the first day.
By attending as a conference delegate, you’ll have access to the leading industry figures, investors and suppliers discussing the issues that matter. That includes what investors are seeking, opportunities that will be created, why site selection is crucial to future success, and the issues and challenges both current and future.
The multi-streamed conference will be held in two separate rooms, one focused on a strategy stream driving the data centre sector across the continent, and an operational stream that addresses the practical issues to help your digital infrastructure run better, more efficiently and with more resilience, all while being safe and secure.
“Governments across Asia, the Middle East and Africa are offering incentives to attract greenfield projects, recognising data centres as foundations for innovation, skilled employment, and adjacent industries like fintech and AI. Yet Africa faces a stark challenge. While the US hosts about 45% of the world’s data centres, Africa accounts for less than 1% of global capacity. Despite growing investment pipelines, the continent’s share is expected to expand only in line with global growth, rather than closing the gap. This opportunity has not stayed unnoticed, and investors, expecting high returns, have poured funds into increasing the sector’s capacity by approximately two-thirds.” — 2026 Economic Report on DataCentres in Africa, produced by the African Data Centre Association and Rising Advisory Africa
Key areas to be addressed throughout the conference sessions include:
- Sustainability of water and power
- Renewable energy
- Quantum computing
- Certification
- Connectivity
- Talent and training
- AI
To view the latest programme and register as a delegate, click here.
AI is no longer just a buzzword. It is a reality for the global data centres market. AI is dominating conversations around power, chip design, data centre design, site selection, cooling and connectivity – and for Africa this couldn’t be truer. With more than $600-million being committed to AI investment in the coming years, Africa is keen to explore AI potential and its role in strengthening its future data centres.
At Pan African DataCentres 2026, the two-day conference agenda will look at how AI is influencing and shaping the African data centres market. With dedicated panels such as:
- Data centre maintenance in an AI era – how AI is supporting maintenance strategies.
- Is AI distracting us from the real benefits and uses of colocation sites?
- AI is arriving in Africa before the infrastructure is ready for it – what does that mean for how we build, and who gets left behind?
- Training and retention in an AI era.
During these sessions you will hear from experts leading the AI conversations, including:
- Edwin Thompson, chief technology officer, PAIX Data Centres
- Eben Owen, director of sales, The Uptime Institute
- Nils Gerstle, director, Collaboretix
- Carlos De Almeida, sales director, South Africa, Wiocc Group
- Mike Meyer, MD, Portman Partners
- Ryan Holmes, chief commercial officer, Raxio
To view the latest programme and register as a delegate, click here.
Exhibition-only visitors
Should you only wish to visit the exhibition and network with those companies that are proactively seeking to showcase the latest in products and services, you may do so – in fact, in it’s complementary.
Exhibition-only visitors can register online – click here to register as a visitor.
Exhibit – put you and your company and products in front of those who matter
The PADC exhibition is your platform to showcase your products and services to a focused audience of operators, developers, consultants, engineers, specifiers and decision-makers who, by attending, have pre-qualified themselves as actively seeking new ideas and solutions.
Last year’s event delivered a focused audience of over 1 300 attendees, 89% of which were from Africa, and was praised for the quality of the content and audience delivered, as well as the lack of low-level representatives and time wasters. This means that as an exhibitor, you will have even more opportunities to meet with those driving the market and to forge lasting business relationships.
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