What’s Next — Dr Ayotunde Coker explains why OADC is investing big in South African data centres
Dr Ayotunde Coker is the CEO of Open Access Data Centres (OADC) and Chairperson of influential industry group, the Africa Data Centres Association.
Throughout a distinguished international career as a technology and business leader, Coker has held senior positions in finance, energy, management consulting, and UK Government.
He holds an MSc from Cranfield Institute of Technology and a PhD (Honoris Causa) from ESCAE University.
Before joining OADC as its CEO, Coker led Rack Centre to becoming a household name in Nigeria and a leading brand in Africa, with global recognition and numerous prestigious international awards.
These include the Distinguished Manufacturing Alumni Award (Cranfield Institute of Technology) 2020, and in the same year he was recognised as one of the Global Top 30 Edge Computing Leaders by Data Economy Magazine.
In this What’s Next interview, Coker explains what OADC is and what its goals are in South Africa.
He then unpacks the launch of OADC’s first data centre in South Africa, explaining what this Durban facility will provide to local organizations.
Coker then discusses OADC’s commitment to investing $500 million into its African data centre network over the next five years — explaining why it is making this investment.
He also talks about OADC’s launch of seventeen 0.5MW Edge data centres in the country, as well as its plans to launch more of these data centres, as well as several 2-3MW Tier-3 quality regional facilities in the coming months.
Coker concludes by explaining how OADC has onboarded a variety of 5G operators, ISPs, and fibre providers to reach new African markets.
The full interview with Dr Ayotunde Coker can be watched below.