Emmanuel Katto Highlights Data Centres as a Foundation for Africa’s Digital Economy

KAMPALA, UGANDA —(SP Tech Solutions)— September 27, 2026 — Emmanuel Katto has consistently argued that infrastructure must serve people, not the other way around. The African business tycoon and Safari Rally legend has interests in enterprise IT, real estate, mining and procurement across Africa and Europe, as well as power generation and renewable energy. This portfolio places him at the heart of Africa’s coming data centre boom. For Katto, data centres are not just buildings full of servers. They are engines that can drive broader development.

 McKinsey estimates that data centre demand across Africa’s five largest markets could grow from roughly 400 megawatts today to as much as 2.2 gigawatts by 2030. Cloud adoption, data sovereignty rules and AI deployment are driving this growth. Around 40% of African corporations are already experimenting with or implementing generative AI. But the continent faces serious constraints. Unreliable electricity costs African economies an estimated 4% of GDP annually. For data centre operators needing 99.98% uptime, most national grids cannot deliver. In Kenya, Microsoft’s data centre project was reportedly delayed because the government could not meet large electricity supply requirements.

 Katto’s approach is to integrate solutions. His power generation and solar interests address the energy gap. His real estate experience helps secure land, buildings and cooling infrastructure. His mining interests connect to the minerals needed for batteries, solar panels and electronics. His procurement networks across Africa and Europe help move equipment and services. His enterprise IT background ensures that hardware, software and skills come together.

 But Katto insists that data centres must be planned alongside power systems, not in isolation. They must serve local needs—healthcare, agriculture, education, governance—not only global AI supply chains. They must be built with African realities in mind: variable grid reliability, diverse languages and communities that need tangible benefits.

 Data centres can be catalysts. They can anchor renewable energy projects, strengthen grids and create high-value jobs. They can host AI models that speak African languages and solve African problems. But only if they are designed for citizens, not just for corporations.

 For Katto, the question is not whether Africa needs data centres. It does. The question is how to build them so they power a digital economy that belongs to Africans.

About Emmanuel Katto

Emmanuel Katto is a Ugandan entrepreneur and former Safari Rally driver with business interests spanning enterprise IT, real estate, mining, procurement, power generation and renewable energy. His work focuses on business and infrastructure opportunities across Africa and international markets, with an emphasis on technology, energy and economic development.