Africa's Data Centre Universe: Mitigating And Managing Potential Disputes For Data Centre Investment In Africa

The growth of data centres in Africa continues to accelerate.

On the demand side, McKinsey expects a four-fold to six-fold increase in demand for African data centre capacity (to 1.5 to 2.2 GW) by 2030, which presents an investment opportunity of between £7.5 to 15 billion to meet this demand.¹

On the supply side, the number of African data centres grew by 9% to 243 in the six months between July 2025 and January 2026.² The most notable increases are in South Africa (which added four new data centres to bring its total to 60) and Nigeria (which added five new data centres to bring its total to 22).

Private capital continues to play an important role to finance the heavy capital expenditures associated with this growth, whether by providing loans, equity, or both.³

Recent private capital involvements in the African data centres market include: (i) STANLIB's investment in African Data Centres (a data centre operator providing colocation services in 6 countries in Africa, including South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria) (2026);⁴ (ii) African data centre platform Raxio Group reaching a total of US$380 million in committed capital (2026)⁵; (iii) Rand Merchant Bank providing up to a £148 million loan to IXAfrica (a developer and operator of hyperscale-ready data centres in Kenya) (2025);⁶ (iv) FirstRand bank coordinating a £90 million, 10-year term loan to Africa Data Centres (2024);⁷ (v) Helios acquiring a majority stake in IXAfrica (2022).⁸

The explosive growth of data centres is dependent on the supply of natural resources, key among them copper supplies. Africa is central to this story. The continent holds some of the world's most significant copper reserves and vast renewable energy potential, but these resources exist within a landscape of complex legal, regulatory and political challenges.

Global copper consumption is projected to increase by 50% over the next 15 years, driven significantly by data centre proliferation. S&P Global has warned of a potential shortfall of 10 million metric tonnes by 2040. Pricing signals already reflect this pressure: according to the International Energy Agency's Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026, copper prices surpassed US$14,000 per tonne for the first time in May 2025.

The continent is not merely a supplier to external markets, but an increasingly significant consumer as its own digital infrastructure expands. This dual role adds further complexity to an already strained global supply picture. For investors, developers and policymakers, understanding Africa's legal and regulatory frameworks governing mineral extraction and energy development will be essential to navigating the years ahead.

Growing arbitration risk

As covered in our previous articles (When Deals Go Sour: Global M&A Outlook for 2026⁹, Constructing the Digital Future: Legal Challenges in Data Centre Projects¹⁰, and Deal or No Deal: M&A trends and disputes risks for 2025¹¹), we anticipate disputes risk to be particularly heightened due to changes in economic and regulatory conditions, challenging market conditions, shifting consumer/shareholder expectations, geopolitical uncertainties, and the market disruption being caused by energy transition and AI. These elements are likely to be catalysts that can quickly escalate disagreements into disputes.

The lifecycle of a data centre contains many stages which increase chokepoints for the breakdown of relationships between key stakeholders. Typically, the process begins with acquiring land and associated permits (i.e., land use) and rights (e.g., water), before considering financing if necessary. Questions of power, construction and procurement, customer contracting, and operating, then come into focus. While a number of these steps occur in parallel, rather than sequentially, M&A usually follows once the data centre is operational.

The growth of the data centre market in Africa, while presenting significant investment opportunities, brings with it an increasing risk of disputes across the full project lifecycle. These risks manifest from a variety of perspectives: first, on the construction side, where challenges relating to site procurement, power supply and the choice of delivery model can give rise to complex multi-party claims; second, from the perspective of service providers, where supply chain constraints, evolving cooling requirements and failures to meet service-level commitments may trigger contentious proceedings; and third, in the context of M&A transactions, where regulatory scrutiny, conditions precedent and post-completion claims present distinct areas of exposure.

Understanding the Data Centre ecosystem

Types of Data Centres

Data centres vary in size, design and offering. They can broadly be categorised in the following manner to help explain size and use.

Potential disputes

1. Construction and pre-operational disputes

The set up, construction and ongoing operations of data centres present a distinct set of challenges and risks, often giving rise to disputes that require careful management and contractual clarity.

Site procurement

Site procurement presents a foundational challenge in the African data centre lifecycle, requiring developers to navigate complex local land tenure frameworks alongside a rigorous assessment of what any given location can actually deliver. Location is critical as it affects electricity consumption, risk management, and data sovereignty, with data centres requiring good access both to fibre optic communications networks and to the electricity grid.¹²

This challenge is especially acute in Africa, where many countries face unreliable power distribution and grid instability, with businesses in some countries seeing up to 33 outages a month,¹³ and where generation centres are frequently situated far from the urban hubs where data centres thrive. This creates localised capacity deficits in cities such as Lagos and Nairobi where local distribution networks often lack the capacity to support the high-density requirements of modern AI racks.¹⁴ We discuss power further below.

A central strategic question is the identification of African hubs offering investable sites with the right mix of power, fibre, and land, and understanding how existing facilities can derisk new builds while ensuring long-term sustainability and community alignment.¹⁵

Power limitations

Delivery of data centre projects can encounter unique challenges, including power constraints, which may arise from any combination of power supply limitations, grid connection delays, insufficient grid capacity and unreliable power infrastructure.¹⁶ The lengthy timelines to bring new supplies and/or upgrade the grid infrastructure often clash with the aggressive construction schedules typical of data centre developments. This misalignment can render site procurement a significant risk and, if not properly contractually allocated, may give rise to disputes between parties to the power supply arrangements.¹⁷

In particular, uncertainty around the availability, timing and reliability of power supply may lead to disagreements as to responsibility for delay, additional costs, design changes or performance shortfalls. Where project documents do not clearly address these risks, such issues may escalate into formal disputes, including claims for extensions of time, variations, or relief events, which in many projects are ultimately resolved through arbitration.

In parallel, data centre projects are increasingly expected to meet sustainability and energy transition objectives, including commitments to utilise renewable energy or achieve carbon reduction targets. In the African context, such commitments may be difficult to fulfil where grid infrastructure is constrained or renewable energy projects are delayed or underperform. This may give rise to disputes under power purchase agreements, grid connection arrangements or project documents where there is a mismatch between contracted and available power, or where sustainability representations made in financing or M&A contexts cannot be met in practice, potentially giving rise to misrepresentation or warranty claims.

However, the extent of this risk will vary across the African market depending on jurisdiction. For instance, data centre operators in South Africa and Nigeria are more likely to face issues with the availability of a reliable power supply than operators in Kenya.¹⁸

Choice of procurement model

There are different ways to structure the delivery of a project, and the choice of approach will depend on factors such as complexity, scale and the level of control the developer wants to retain.

Generally, on complex and large-scale projects, experienced developers often adopt a more ‘disaggregated’ approach, where they contract separately with multiple contractors and equipment suppliers. This contrasts with more ‘aggregated’ models – such as Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) or Design and Build (DB) models – where a single contractor takes responsibility for most aspects of the project.¹⁹

A disaggregated model gives a developer greater control over design, procurement and other project decisions. However, that increased control comes with added responsibility. In particular, the developer must manage and coordinate multiple parties, which increases the risk of delays, misalignment and other issues with contractors. In the African context, these risks are particularly acute, as the equipment powering data centres is almost entirely imported.²⁰ Critical assets such as generators can reportedly take up to 18 months to deliver, with minimal local manufacturing capacity outside of a handful of facilities in South Africa and Kenya.²¹

In disaggregated structures, disputes frequently arise at the "interfaces" between contractors - particularly where delay or defects cannot easily be attributed to a single party. This can result in complex, multi-party disputes and the risk of "gap liability" (i.e., where a loss falls between the scopes of responsibility of different contractors and no party accepts liability).

Supply chain constraints

Supply chain constraints have contributed to a marked increase in the cost of constructing data centre projects across the top African data centre markets, such as Cape Town (up 7.6% from 2024) and Johannesburg (up 7% from 2024) in South Africa and Nairobi (up 4.7%) in Kenya.²²

These cost increases are driven in significant part by supply chain pressures, as data centre projects compete for the same limited pool of materials, specialist equipment and skilled labour, not only amongst themselves but also against other energy and infrastructure projects across the continent. The resulting scarcity of key inputs can lead to procurement delays, price escalation and extended lead times.²³

Contractors could then be placed in a difficult position as they now face significantly higher costs to complete the agreed scope of work. They will no doubt be looking to seek relief from developers.²⁴

In addition, the procurement of labour for data centre construction projects in Africa raises important community engagement considerations, particularly where the workforce is drawn from surrounding, often economically disadvantaged, areas. Developers and contractors should ensure that structured and transparent engagement processes are in place with local communities from the outset, addressing matters such as local hiring commitments, skills transfer and fair labour practices. Failure to do so may give rise to community opposition, regulatory intervention or reputational harm, each of which can cause delay and additional cost. Equally, careful consideration must be given to the social impact of workforce demobilisation upon completion of the construction phase. Where large numbers of locally recruited labourers are left without employment at the conclusion of a project, this can generate community grievances, political pressure and, in some jurisdictions, regulatory or contractual exposure — particularly where local content or social responsibility commitments have been made as a condition of development approvals or investment incentives. Proactive measures, such as skills development programmes, transition support and ongoing community investment initiatives, can assist in mitigating these risks and maintaining the social licence necessary for the long-term operation of the facility.

Water consumption

Water consumption of a data centre is largely affected by the type of cooling system deployed to keep the facilities within a defined operating temperature range.²⁵ Data centres that use evaporative cooling can be expected to consume large amounts of water (in exchange for lower power consumption) to maintain temperature within such range.²⁶ Data centres that use more traditional air cooling would not need much water (in exchange for higher power consumption).²⁷

Typical African data centres (excluding those being utilised for AI workloads) would likely use more traditional air cooling systems due to their lower implementation cost and simpler technical requirements.²⁸

However, as data centre operators in Africa pursue their AI ambitions, there will be an increasing push towards direct-to-chip liquid cooling and similar technologies.²⁹ This pivot would present new challenges.

African data centre operators seeking to adopt liquid-cooling systems may face shortages of key equipment (such as coolant distribution units (CDUs)) and a limited pool of specialised installers. Such constraints can delay procurement, installation and commissioning, which in turn may give rise to disputes over extensions of time, liability for liquidated damages, cost overruns, performance failures and responsibility for design changes.³⁰

In addition, increased reliance on water-based cooling may expose operators to regulatory and stakeholder scrutiny. In jurisdictions where water scarcity is a concern, disputes may arise regarding abstraction rights, environmental compliance, or competing community use. Failure to secure or maintain appropriate permits, or changes in regulatory policy, may lead to a need for redesign, operational constraints, or claims under project agreements as to who bears the associated cost and delay risk.

2. Operational Disputes

Customer and service-level disputes

Once operational, data centres may face disputes with their customers, particularly in the context of failures to meet agreed Service Level Agreements (SLAs), which typically include stringent commitments relating to power availability, cooling and humidity control, and physical security. Even short periods of disruption can have significant financial and operational consequences for customers, particularly those operating business-critical or latency-sensitive workloads.

In addition, disputes may arise in relation to:

• the calculation and applicability of service credits, and any broader damages claims where service credits are not the sole and exclusive remedy;
• the exercise of termination rights for persistent or severe SLA breaches.

Given the high-value, long-term nature of customer contracts and the reputational importance of reliability in the data centre sector, service-level disputes can escalate rapidly. As such, careful drafting of SLA frameworks, clear allocation of risk (including well-defined exclusion regimes), and robust incident management and reporting processes are essential to mitigating the risk of contentious outcomes.

3. M&A Disputes

Data centre M&A transactions can give rise to disputes at different stages of the deal lifecycle, from merger control issues through to post-completion claims.

Data centre transactions involve a unique blend of infrastructure, technology and regulatory risk. The parties that invest time upfront to identify and allocate those risks appropriately are far more likely to avoid costly disputes down the line and preserve value after completion.

Transactional disputes

Disputes between signing and completion could arise – including from a failure to complete, including the satisfaction of conditions precedent,³¹ which could be impeded by regulatory scrutiny, geopolitical risks and changes in macroeconomic factors.³²

For example, a common condition precedent is obtaining antitrust clearances from the authorities in the relevant jurisdictions (otherwise referred to as merger control, and it should be noted that the relevant jurisdiction may go beyond the target's jurisdiction based on the entities involved in the relevant transaction).

“Scrutiny of data centre transactions by African merger control authorities is evolving alongside a rapidly growing market. Many deals still involve new entry or capacity expansion, rather than consolidation, meaning that concentration concerns have not yet been rigorously tested; however, as the sector matures and consolidation increases, closer scrutiny of market power is likely. In parallel, parties must pay close attention to public interest considerations, which play a prominent role in many African merger control regimes. Although not yet formalised in many jurisdictions, expectations around local ownership may intensify given the strategic importance of data infrastructure, while commitments to local procurement, particularly from smaller and locally owned businesses, will continue to be a focus. Authorities will also be attentive to competition dynamics at the customer level, especially as co-location clients become more dependent on particular operators, requiring safeguards to ensure continued non-discriminatory access. Authorities will seek to ensure that smaller domestic customers can obtain fair and reasonable access to data centre capacity, and that such infrastructure is not disproportionately reserved for hyperscalers at the expense of broader market participation.” - Stewart Payne

Many African nations are increasingly seeking to enforce strict data sovereignty and residency rules. These rules require national data to be processed and stored within that given nation's borders.³³ It remains to be seen if the African nations would take a further step by regulating which foreign investors could acquire the data centres which process and store those sensitive data (or the company owning them).

For instance, in the UK, the National Security and Investment Act 2021 has introduced a notification system for sensitive acquisitions reaching a certain threshold, allowing the UK government to potentially intervene in data centre transactions. Generally-applicable foreign direct investment (FDI) regimes of this nature are not yet prevalent on the African continent, but may emerge in due course. In South Africa, for example, the government has enacted provisions that would introduce a FDI regime that stands as a parallel process to the merger control regime; however, these provisions have not yet been operationalised.³⁴ If operationalised, this regime could increase scrutiny of foreign acquirers investing in data centres in South Africa, thereby increasing the risk of failure to complete such transactions.

Outside of the regulatory context, where conditions are linked to capacity availability, power supply, customer contracts, and/or future growth projections, there is heightened dispute risk.

Joint venture disputes

Joint ventures are a common vehicle for data centre investment across Africa, bringing together developers with operational expertise and institutional investors seeking long-term infrastructure exposure. In many cases, the prevalence of this structure in the African context is a regulatory necessity: a number of African jurisdictions restrict foreign ownership of land and strategic sectors, including telecoms and utilities, and require local partners or local shareholding as a precondition for obtaining the licences necessary to develop and operate infrastructure of this kind. As the African data centre market attracts increasingly large pools of capital and more sophisticated ownership structures, the conditions for inter-party conflict are beginning to take shape. Disagreements over governance decisions, funding requirements, the application of distribution waterfalls and the operation of exit mechanisms (including rights of first refusal, drag-along provisions and forced sale clauses) are among the flashpoints likely to crystallise as these partnerships mature and investment horizons diverge. Where a deadlock cannot be resolved informally, contractual buy-sell mechanisms such as forced offer procedures may come into play, though these carry their own risks in markets where the joint venture partners do not enjoy comparable access to financing.

As the market's earliest joint ventures approach their natural exit horizons, robust governance and exit provisions will prove as important as the underlying commercial arrangements themselves.

Claim risk

Similarly, dispute risk can be heightened where valuation, supported by warranties or indemnities, or deferred/contingent consideration, is open to potential disagreement – particularly in respect of capacity availability, power supply, customer contracts, and/or future growth projections, particularly in developing platforms.

This is particularly enhanced given the high multiples currently attaching to data centre transactions - placing additional pressure on value-driven negotiations (and corresponding contractual drafting) and opening up assumptions underpinning modelling to increased scrutiny. Experienced data centre operators and investors will be familiar with many of unique technical, operational and regulatory characteristics that can be challenging to diligence and value accurately – but with a broader range of investors seeking to monetise current trends, intense competition and evolving investor strategies, protecting value is key.

Ways to mitigate and manage potential disputes for data centre investment in Africa

Drawing on our extensive experience in acting on data centre-related matters for private equity firms, funds, listed companies and other market participants, as well as our broader experience with major infrastructure transactions on the continent, we have sought to collate some key strategies to assist with navigating the complexities of data centre-related claims that lie in wait as the growth in data centres continues at pace.

With regard to construction contracts:

• Early identification and allocation of risk across the full project lifecycle (from land acquisition through to construction and operation) to avoid inconsistencies that may give rise to disputes, including conducting thorough land title and tenure due diligence to verify ownership, customary land rights and requisite governmental consents.
• Implementing clear allocation and coordination mechanisms where multiple contractors are engaged to avoid gaps and overlaps in responsibility, including allocating time-related risks on a back-to-back basis with any upstream revenue contracts and providing for appropriate remedies to address gap liability.
• Entering into advance supply agreements (including power, grid connection and water) of appropriate durations that contain suitable warranties, indemnities and termination events, together with provisions addressing back-up power arrangements, force majeure and relief events relating to grid failures, and mechanisms to address mismatches between contracted and available power capacity.
• Clear and comprehensive variation mechanisms (including agreed methods of communication) to ensure certainty as to when and how the contractual scope has changed.
• Inclusion of change-in-law provisions in project agreements to allocate the risk of regulatory developments, particularly in light of the evolving legislative landscape governing data centre operations across African jurisdictions.

With regard to colocation service contracts:

• Careful drafting of SLA frameworks, including clear performance metrics, exclusion regimes and remedies (including the calculation and applicability of service credits), together with robust incident management and reporting processes to mitigate the risk of contentious outcomes.
• Appropriate price adjustment or cost-sharing mechanisms to manage inflationary risk and supply chain cost escalation.
• Clear limitation of liability regimes to ensure that the contractual risk allocation appropriately reflects each party's role, responsibilities and exposure across the relevant construction and service contracts.

On the M&A side:

• Undertaking targeted legal, technical and regulatory due diligence (across power availability, grid connections, customer contracts, capacity utilisation, construction programmes, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance and development pipelines, as required), and negotiating robust contractual protections to manage M&A risk, including clear allocation of regulatory and completion risks.
• Early engagement with competition authorities and conducting pre-notification assessments to identify potential public interest considerations, local ownership expectations and remedies or commitments (such as local procurement undertakings) that may be required to facilitate merger clearance.
• Monitoring and assessing the impact of evolving data sovereignty requirements and emerging foreign direct investment notification regimes on transaction structuring and completion risk, particularly in jurisdictions where such frameworks are being developed or operationalised.
• Negotiating robust warranty and indemnity regimes with appropriate de minimis and basket thresholds, and ensuring that tailored earn-out mechanics contain clearly defined performance metrics where required to bridge valuation gaps, measurement methodologies and dispute resolution procedures to minimise the risk of post-completion claims.

Conclusion

Although investment into data centres in Africa is expected to continue at pace, driven by strong investor appetite and the growing demand for AI-capable infrastructure, the challenges identified in this article are likely to persist and, in some cases, intensify. Power constraints, supply chain pressures and an evolving regulatory landscape - particularly around data sovereignty, foreign investment screening and environmental compliance - will continue to shape the risk profile of data centre projects across the continent.

These challenges give rise to disputes risk at every stage of the project lifecycle: from site procurement and construction through to service delivery and M&A. The multi-party, multi-contract nature of data centre developments, combined with the relative immaturity of supporting infrastructure in many African jurisdictions, means that careful contractual structuring, early identification of risk and proactive engagement with regulatory authorities will be essential for investors seeking to protect their positions. As the market matures and consolidation increases, the importance of robust dispute resolution will only grow.

The authors would like to thank Kevin Halim and Emily Gobet for their assistance on this article.

Footnotes

1 McKinsey Article, titled 'Building data centers for Africa’s unique market dynamics', Page 2, dated 24 November 2025.

2 New America Article, titled 'Africa’s Digital Sovereignty Trap: The Data Center Dilemma' dated 30 July 2025; Data Center map Dashboard, titled 'Africa Data Centers' undated (accessed on 20 January 2026).

3 McKinsey Article, titled 'Building data centers for Africa’s unique market dynamics', Page 9, dated 24 November 2025.

4 My Broadband, 'Top asset manager cleared to buy large data centre company in South Africa', dated 4 February 2026, (https://www.africaprivateequitynews.com/p/stanlib-infrastructure-investments).

5 Data Centre Magazine, 'Raxio Group Secures US$380m for Data Centres in Africa', dated 13 July 2026, (https://datacentremagazine.com/news/raxio-group-secures-380m-for-data-centres-in-africa).

6 The Kenyan Wall Street News, titled 'IXAfrica Secures Upto US$200mn in Debt Funding to Expand Nairobi Data Center', dated 4 September 2025.

7 Debtwire Report, titled 'Africa Data Centres', undated (accessed on 22 January 2026).

8 Helios Webpage, titled 'IXAfrica', undated (accessed on 22 January 2026).

9Kramer Report, titled 'When deals go sour' in 'Global M&A Outlook 2026', dated 14 January 2026.

10 HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Constructing the digital future: Legal challenges in data centre projects' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

11 HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Deal or no deal: M&A trends and disputes risks for 2025' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

12 UNEP Report, titled 'Sustainable Procurement Guidelines for Data Centres and Servers', dated June 2025.

13 McKinsey Article, titled 'Building data centers for Africa’s unique market dynamics', Page 7, dated 24 November 2025.

14 Africa Data Centres Association Report, titled 'The Economic Report: Data Centres in Africa', Page 25, dated February 2026.

15 McKinsey Article, titled 'Building data centers for Africa’s unique market dynamics', Page 13, dated 24 November 2025.

16 HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Constructing the digital future: Legal challenges in data centre projects' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

17 HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Constructing the digital future: Legal challenges in data centre projects' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

18 Africa Data Centres Association and Stellarix Collaboration Report, titled 'Data Centres in Africa INSIDER SURVEY 2025', dated 23 June 2025.

19 HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Constructing the digital future: Legal challenges in data centre projects' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

20 Africa Data Centres Association Report, titled 'The Economic Report: Data Centres in Africa', Page 21, dated February 2026.

21 Africa Data Centres Association Report, titled 'The Economic Report: Data Centres in Africa', Page 21, dated February 2026.

22 The average cost of building an air-cooled, build-to-suit hyperscale data centre in the range of 30-50MW (IT load) in 2025 as compared to 12-40MW projects in 2024 in: (i) Cape Town is $10.33/W (up 7.6% from $9.60/W in 2024); (ii) Johannesburg is $10.06/W (up 7.0% from $9.40/W in 2024); (iii) Nairobi is $9.74/W (up 4.7% from $9.30/W in 2024); (iv) Lagos is $10.50/W (down 12.5% from $12.00/W in 2024). See Turner and Townsend Report, titled 'Data centre cost index 2024', section titled 'Data centre cost trends', dated 2024; Turner and Townsend Report, titled 'Data centre construction cost index 2025-2026', section titled 'Data centre cost trends', dated 5 November 2025.

23 HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Constructing the digital future: Legal challenges in data centre projects' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

24HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Constructing the digital future: Legal challenges in data centre projects' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

25 Digital Realty Blog, titled 'A guide to data center cooling: Future innovations for sustainability', dated 7 March 2025; EESI Article, titled 'Data Centers and Water Consumption', dated 25 June 2025.

26 Digital Realty Blog, titled 'A guide to data center cooling: Future innovations for sustainability', dated 7 March 2025; EESI Article, titled 'Data Centers and Water Consumption', dated 25 June 2025.

27 Digital Realty Blog, titled 'A guide to data center cooling: Future innovations for sustainability', dated 7 March 2025; EESI Article, titled 'Data Centers and Water Consumption', dated 25 June 2025.

28 Datacentres Africa Article, titled 'Liquid cooling in African data centres: A turning point in efficiency, resilience and future-ready design', dated 26 November 2025.

29 Datacentres Africa Article, titled 'Liquid cooling in African data centres: A turning point in efficiency, resilience and future-ready design', dated 26 November 2025; Digital Realty Blog, titled 'A guide to data center cooling: Future innovations for sustainability', dated 7 March 2025; EESI Article, titled 'Data Centers and Water Consumption', dated 25 June 2025.

30 Datacentres Africa Article, titled 'Liquid cooling in African data centres: A turning point in efficiency, resilience and future-ready design', dated 26 November 2025.

31 HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Deal or no deal: M&A trends and disputes risks for 2025' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

32 HSF Kramer Report, titled 'Deal or no deal: M&A trends and disputes risks for 2025' in 'Inside Arbitration – Issue 19', dated 27 March 2025.

33 McKinsey Article, titled 'Building data centers for Africa’s unique market dynamics', Page 5, dated 24 November 2025.

34 This specific part of the relevant legislation has yet to commence as of 31 January 2026. See section 14 of the Competition Amendment Act 18 of 2018; LexisNexis Practice Note, titled 'South Africa FDI control', Page 2, undated (accessed on 31 January 2026).

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