Oracle Selects iXAfrica to Host Its First Cloud Region in Kenya

Oracle Selects iXAfrica to Host Its First Cloud Region in Kenya January 27, 2026 Oracle is expanding its cloud infrastructure footprint in Africa through a strategic partnership with East African data center operator iXAfrica. The collaboration marks a significant step in bringing hyperscale cloud services closer to the rapidly digitizing Kenyan market and the broader East African region. This week, iXAfrica announced it has been selected as the host partner for Oracle's upcoming Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) region in Nairobi. The move follows Oracle's initial announcement of its plans for a Kenyan region in early 2024. While a specific launch date remains undisclosed, the region is listed as "coming soon" on Oracle's official website. The new region will be housed within iXAfrica's flagship NBOX1 data center campus, a 17,300-square-meter (186,215 sq ft) facility located on Mombasa Road in Nairobi. The air-cooled site, built on a former Schneider Electric complex, has a potential capacity of over 20MW at full build-out. Its first phase offers 4.5MW of IT load, with a second building planned to add a further 18MW. iXAfrica also has plans for a second campus in the city. "We are delighted to be in execution mode to bring OCI to Kenya," said Snehar Shah, CEO of iXAfrica. "With this collaboration, iXAfrica is leveraging the renewable energy, talent, and abundant submarine and national connectivity available in our market." David Bunei, Oracle's Country Leader for Kenya, emphasized the strategic importance, stating, "Around the world, governments and enterprises rely on OCI for its security, scalability, and ability to run mission-critical workloads that enable innovation at scale. These unique capabilities and our collaboration with iXAfrica will further support the growth of the country’s digital economy." The Nairobi region will become Oracle's second cloud region on the African continent, following its Johannesburg region launched in January 2022. Oracle has also signaled further African expansion with a second planned South African region and two "coming soon" regions in Morocco. This expansion is part of a broader trend of global cloud providers investing in local infrastructure to meet data residency requirements, reduce latency, and spur digital transformation in emerging economies. For Kenya, hosting a major OCI region is expected to accelerate cloud adoption among local enterprises and public sector entities, providing a catalyst for innovation and economic growth. Source: datacenterdynamics