Data Center Construction Market in Middle-East & Africa - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2019-2024

The MEA data center construction market research report offers a detailed overview of market sizing and forecast, market share, industry trends, growth drivers, and vendor analysis. The study includes in-depth insights on segmentation based on electrical infrastructure (UPS system generators, transfer switches and switch gears, rack PDUs, and others electrical infrastructure), mechanical infrastructure(cooling systems, rack and other mechanical infrastructure), tier standards (Tier I&II, Tier III, and Tier IV), general construction (building design services, building development (site preparation and structural development), security (cameras, access systems, and perimeter protection), DCIM (datacenter infrastructure management software), installation and commissioning services, and countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria and others).

MEA Data Center Construction Market: Overview

Around 70% of organizations operating in MEA will adopt cloud services by 2024

The increased adoption of smart devices is expected to drive data center services in the MEA region. The MEA data center market consists of UAE, Bahrain, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia. These countries are likely to emerge as major hubs for data center service in the near future. 

The investment in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is growing significantly, aided by the construction of data center facilities by telecommunication providers, enterprises, government, cloud and colocation service providers. Recently, Alibaba, AWS, and Microsoft have shown interest in the cloud service market in MEA. Huawei, a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics manufacturer, has a strong presence in the MEA market, and the company provides modular datacenter solutions across the region for enterprise and government agencies.

AWS, Microsoft, icolo.io, MainOne, Liquid Telecommunications, Internet Solutions, Global Data Center, Kenya Government, Telkom Kenya, and Algerian Customs will carry out datacenter investments in 2019. The formation of the African Datacenter Association is likely to aid the MEA data center construction market. High demand for colocation services in sectors such as retail/e-commerce, BFSI, healthcare, technology, and transportation is expected to strengthen the MEA data center construction market.  The MEA data center construction market is expected to reach $1 billion, growing at a CAGR of 9.42% during 2018−2014.

MEA Data Center Construction Market: Dynamics

Digital transformation initiatives will increase the investment in the data center market in MEA

In the last few years, the MEA data center construction market has witnessed the entry of hyperscale data center service providers. The growing application of cloud-based SaaS solutions will be a predominant driver for increased hyperscale investments in the market. Recently, Microsoft opened its cloud region in South Africa and announced to open a new cloud region in the UAE. Similarly, Oracle announced its opening of the Middle East cloud region in early 2019. Amazon Web Service (AWS) announced in 2017 to open its cloud region in Bahrain by mid-2019. In 2016, Alibaba Cloud Services entered into a partnership with Meraas Holdings to provide advanced big data and cloud computing services. Some other tech giants such as Google, IBM, and Tencent are expected to enter the MEA market by 2024. The increased interest shown by local enterprises toward cloud-based services, big data, and IoT is leading to the rise in data center construction.

MEA Data Center Construction Market: Segmentation

This market research report includes a detailed segmentation of the market by electrical infrastructure, mechanical infrastructure, tier standards, general construction, and countries.

MEA Data Center Construction Market by Electrical Infrastructure

VRLA-battery powered UPS systems and diesel generators will dominate the market during the forecast period

The MEA data center construction market by electrical infrastructure is classified into UPS system, generators, transfer switches and switchgear, rack PDUs, and other electrical infrastructure. The UPS system segment dominated the market in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of approx. 9% during the forecast period. UPS systems in datacenters supply AC to critical infrastructure during a power outage. There are three basic types of UPS systems - VRLA-based UPS systems, lithium-ion batteries, and flywheel UPS systems.

Generators are considered a reliable power back-up option in data centers since they can provide uninterrupted electricity supply to critical data center infrastructure for up to five days. Generators for tier II and III datacenters are designed with N+1 or N+N redundancy. African countries are experiencing higher power stability and reliability challenge.

MEA Data Center Construction Market by Mechanical Infrastructure

The MEA data center construction market is likely to witness the use of both air-based and water-based cooling technique

Mechanical infrastructure includes cooling systems, racks, and other infrastructure. Cooling systems use both air and water-based solutions to cool the data center facility. Computer room air conditioners (CRAC), computer room air handlers (CRAH), chillers, cooling towers, and dry coolers are the commonly adopted cooling infrastructure in the MEA data center construction market. The installation of cooling systems in the datacenter highly depends on the IT load. The market will continue to witness the use of both air-based and water-based cooling techniques, thereby boosting the MEA data center construction market.

Racks are used to mount the IT infrastructure in data centers. They are commonly referred to as enclosures, cabinets, and containment systems. They are available in a variety of sizes, ranging from 36U to 55U. In MEA, several data centers are deploying racks with capacities of less than 500. Other mechanical infrastructure comprises pump systems, piping units and valves, boilers, fire protection and suppression systems, and sprinklers.

MEA Data Center Construction Market by Tier Standards

The market is likely to witness an increase in the Uptime Institute certified data centers during the forecast period

The MEA data center construction market by tier standards can be segmented into Tier I&II, Tier III, and Tier IV. The Tier Classification System (Tier I−IV) evaluates datacenters based on their infrastructure performance, efficiency, redundancy, and scalability. Tier III data center facilities are the fastest growing segment in the MEA market, growing at a CAGR of about 14%. These data centers have minimum N+1 redundancy across data center infrastructure, with around 1.6 hours of annual downtime. Given these benefits, several underdeveloped data center projects are designed on the Tier III standard, and the trend is likely to continue in the MEA data center construction market during the forecast period.

Tier IV data centers are the preferred choice for service providers as they have a minimum 2N+1 redundancy in power and cooling infrastructure with an annual downtime of about 2.4 minutes and availability of 99.995%. AWS Bahrain facility  and  Etix Everywhere Ghana Data Center are major contributors toward the tier IV data center market in MEA. The usage of Tier I&II data centers has reduced significantly in the last years due to long downtime.

MEA Data Center Construction Market by General Construction

The MEA data center construction market will witness both greenfield and modular  data center deployment

The MEA data center construction market by general construction includes building design services, building development (site preparation and structural development), security (cameras, access systems, and perimeter protection), DCIM (data center infrastructure management software), and installation and commissioning services. The general construction segment is the fastest expanding segment in terms of revenue, growing at a CAGR of about 10%. The MEA data center construction market will witness both greenfield and modular datacenter deployment. The shortage of skilled labors will be a significant challenge in the market as it will increase the dependency on global contractors and modular and infrastructure service providers. The increasing OPEX will increase the adoption of DCIM solutions, and the rapid growth in colocation data centers will increase the investment in physical security systems in the MEA market.

MEA Data Center Construction Market by Country

Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are set to attract major datacenter investment in the MEA region

The MEA data center construction market by geography is segmented into GCC, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Other MEA countries. Africa is expected to witness a high CAGR, growing at around 12%. The growing internet penetration will increase cloud adoption across enterprises in Africa. The ever increasing e-commerce industry is expected to boost big data adoption in the region. Operators in the leading datacenter countries such as UAE and South Africa will continue to procure on-site renewable energy sources to run their operations. South Africa leads the data center market in Africa with the presence of multiple data centers, followed by other countries such as Nigeria, Morocco, Angola, Egypt, and Zimbabwe.

In the MiddleEast, the size of the datacenter market is growing significantly with GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) leading from the front. The demand for cloud computing and smart city initiatives by government agencies is driving growth in big data and IoT technology, thereby propelling the MEA data center construction market.

Key Countries Covered in the report:

• GCC
• South Africa
• Nigeria
• Kenya
• Other MEA countries

Key Vendor Analysis

Vendors’ initiatives toward cost reduction of efficient infrastructure are expected to increase market growth in the MEA region. Infrastructure resellers and distributors are expected to compete with each other in the region. The demand for modular datacenters that reduce space in datacenters and support high-density operations is expected to grow during the forecast period. Partnerships with local and modular datacenter service providers will increase revenues for global vendors operating in the market. The need for installation, commissioning, and maintenance services will generate local job opportunities in the market.

Key Market Participants in the MEA Data Center Construction Market:

Construction Contractors

• ALEC Engineering and Contracting
• Atkins
• Aveng Grinaker
• Concor
• Edarat Group
• Etix Everywhere
• Future-Tech
• Harinsa Qatar
• Huawei
• ICS Nett
• ISG
• KAR Group
• Laing O'Rourke
• McLaren Construction Group
• NOVA Mission Critical
• QATAR SITE & POWER (QSP)
• Red Engineering

Infrastructure Provider

• ABB
• Caterpillar
• Cummins
• Eaton
• Shenzhen Envicool Technology
• EURO-DIESEL
• Hitec Power Protection
• Legrand Group
• MTU Onsite Energy (Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG)
• Rittal
• Schneider Electric
• STULZ
• Vertiv

Data Center Investors

• Africa Data Centres
• Amazon Web Service (AWS)
• Batelco
• Equinix
• Global Data Center
• GPX Global Systems
• Gulf Data Hub
• icolo.io
• Internet Solutions
• Khazna Data Centers
• Liquid Telecommunications
• MainOne
• Microsoft
• Mobily
• Ooredoo QSC
• Telkom Kenya
• Teraco Data Environments
• Turkcell

Key Market Insights

1. An analysis of the MEA data center construction market providing market size and growth rates for the forecast period 2019−2024
2. Comprehensive insights on current industry trends, market forecast, and growth drivers in the MEA data center construction market
3. Discussion on growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities
4. A complete overview of market segments and the regional outlook of the MEA data center construction market
5. A detailed overview of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key market strategies for gaining a competitive advantage in the MEA data center construction market