Atos Origin Building A New Data Center In Butere

Atos, a French multinational company, is set to begin the ground work towards building a data center in Kenya. The tech giant, head quartered in Bezons, France, is a worldwide digital leader with in secure and decarbonized digital with a range of market-leading digital solutions along with consultancy services, digital security and decarbonization offerings; an end-to-end partnership approach.

The services firm is to construct an Sh28 billion ($260 million) data center at the Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) in Butere, Kakamega County. The data center will be part of the artificial intelligence innovation district in the city, and is expected to be complete by end of 2022.

As for the AI Intelligence system, it will be installed and completed by September. “We are building a large AI cluster focused on healthcare and agriculture. This will enable seamless operation of the currently open Hamptons hospital, as it positions to serve the Lake region economic Bloc, with 16 million people and the larger East African region,” said MMTC’s principal investor Julius Mwale.

According to Paul Martin, a director at KE International overseeing the AI Cluster implementation, said the entire AI cluster will cost $1 billion, with phase one costing $250 million.

“We want MMTC AI Cluster to support our other African projects, especially Akon City in Senegal and Uganda,” he said. KE International was in June 2020 awarded the USD 6 billion ((Sh600 billion) contract for the construction of Akon City in Senegal. The MMTC project began in 2014 with the expected completion of 3 phases at the end of June this year, 2021.

Phase one consisted of a Hamptons Mall and Walmart supermarket among others. The second phase however includes the Hamptons Hospital among others, while phase three has the technology park.

Effect AI, a Netherlands company, is teaming up with UNDP to run Kenyan opportunity hub that will train and fund 4,000 Kenyan entrepreneurs and engineers at the research park.