Johannesburg is Africa’s leading data centre market as the only city on the continent included in Cushman & Wakefield | BROLL’s 2025 Global Data Centre Market Comparison’s emerging markets rankings, coming in at number 10.

The report benchmarks 97 global markets across 20 strategic criteria from power availability and land pricing to fibre connectively and regulatory stability, highlighting Johannesburg’s maturity and momentum.

Key indicators driving Johannesburg’s inclusion are its preleased capacity with over 50% of its pipeline already committed, suggesting healthy demand from hyper-scalers and regional enterprises.

The City is also one of the few African markets with ≥20MW of power availability in a single facility, placing it on par with major international markets such as Warsaw and Chicago.

Locally, existing colocation providers, which rent space within their data centres for other companies to house servers and computing equipment, have moved swiftly to expand capacity particularly in Johannesburg’s East Rand and Samrand nodes. These areas have become preferred destinations due to their access to power and absence of key locational risks specific to data centres.

Angus Murray, of Cushman & Wakefield | BROLL Transaction Services, explains, “The colocation market in South Africa has grown steadily, with ample space now available for hyper-scalers to lease without the need for greenfield development. We expect it to take time for that capacity to be fully absorbed.”

“Interestingly, in Cape Town, which is South Africa’s second significant data centre market, we’re seeing land banking activity, which is a sign that shrewd data centre players are positioning for the future and securing sector-specific prime locations for tomorrow’s demand and dynamics now,” Murray adds.

It’s not about finding premium land, it’s about finding power-connected land that meets a matrix of data centre specific criteria which includes low flood risk, minimal surrounding residential exposure, multiple access points, fibre connectivity, and proximity to major electrical substations, says Calvin Crick, Director of Cushman & Wakefield | BROLL Transaction Services.

“Power delivery costs often exceed land values. The greater the distance from a major substation, the greater the costs. So, it’s important to understand all the nuances when establishing the viability of each potential data centre site,” he adds.

In the broader context, Africa is still considered a nascent region for large- scale data centre growth but its relevance is increasing. While South Africa leads the continent, Cushman & Wakefield | BROLL is also seeing increased activity in other regional hubs like Nairobi and Lagos as rising contenders.

Nairobi, although it doesn’t rank in the top ten emerging markets globally, earns specific recognition under renewable energy criteria as one of the few global markets with renewable power exceeding 70% of the total fuel mix. The country’s renewable advantage aligns it with markets like Reykjavik and Oslo, reinforcing its potential as a green data centre destination, especially for African and global tech firms prioritising ESG benchmarks.

Although Lagos remains on the periphery of the global rankings, like Nairobi it features notably for its low environmental risk, being outside major seismic zones with flood risks not needing to be investigated. Lagos offers relatively affordable power compared to European and APAC hubs although power reliability is a critical issue with generators still generally being essential for operations. However, it has yet to achieve the large-scale infrastructure and preleasing momentum seen in Johannesburg, suggesting its market readiness is still being established.