Côte d’Ivoire to Launch First State-Owned Data Centre in 2027

Côte d’Ivoire is preparing to open its first state-owned data centre in 2027, giving the government greater control over the infrastructure used to store and process public-sector data.

The National Data Centre is being built inside the VITIB (Village of Information Technologies and Biotechnology) free zone in Grand-Bassam, near Abidjan. It will support government digital services, strengthen cybersecurity and increase the country's capacity to store and process data locally.

Washington-based Cybastion Institute of Technology is developing the facility with Ivorian construction company Porteo Group. Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Schneider Electric have also been identified as suppliers involved in the project.

Funding includes a $66.1 million guarantee from the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM), approved in August 2025. It was EXIM's first data-centre transaction in sub-Saharan Africa. The guarantee forms part of a wider $170 million financing package covering three digital infrastructure projects in Côte d’Ivoire, including the data centre, government digitisation and a border surveillance system.

A project several years in the making

Plans for the facility date back to 2023, when Côte d’Ivoire and the US signed memoranda of understanding covering a backup data centre and a planned digital administrative city. The foundation stone was laid later that year.

Construction moved forward after EXIM approved its financing in 2025. By December, Cybastion said work had passed the 20% completion mark. The latest target is to have the centre operational in 2027, giving government institutions dedicated infrastructure to host systems and store public-sector data as more services move online.

Adding to the local market

Côte d’Ivoire already has a growing commercial data-centre market, with Equinix, Raxio, ST Digital, PAIX Data Centres and Stellarix among the operators with facilities in the country.

Raxio opened its Tier III-certified Raxio CIV1 facility in Abidjan in 2024, while ST Digital opened another Tier III facility at VITIB in Grand-Bassam in 2025. This new project will add a different type of capacity by giving the government dedicated infrastructure for its own public-sector requirements.

The facility will have 1.73MW of IT capacity and 3MW of total power capacity, with space for 228 racks and 10 petabytes of storage.

It is expected to provide cloud hosting, colocation and connectivity services for government organisations. Keeping critical systems and public data on infrastructure located within Côte d’Ivoire will also support the government's efforts to strengthen digital government and cybersecurity. For Côte d’Ivoire, the project adds much-needed local infrastructure as more public services move online, while giving state institutions greater control over where their systems and data are hosted.