Africa AI Datacenter Tracker

JHB1 Midrand Data Centre

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Also known as: Africa Data Centres JHB1 · ADC Midrand · Cassava Technologies Midrand

Midrand, Gauteng, ZA city coords Last verified: 11 May 2026 Report a correction

Overview

Africa Data Centres (ADC) Midrand is the Gauteng campus of ADC, a subsidiary of Cassava Technologies (chairman: Strive Masiyiwa, CEO: Adil El Youssefi). Located on Old Pretoria Road in Midrand, it sits in the same corridor as the Vantage Data Centers Waterfall City facility. Cassava is an NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP), deploying NVIDIA accelerated computing platforms and AI software using NCP reference architectures. The SA deployment was targeted by June 2025. This formally confirms AI model training capability — not just inference — at ADC's South African facilities. The Midrand campus is served by the Eskom grid. ADC uses wheeling arrangements via a 12MW solar farm near Bloemfontein (with Distributed Power Africa) to offset grid consumption across its South African portfolio. Stanlib Infrastructure Fund II (co-head: Andy Louw) acquired a major stake in ADC's South African operations in approximately January 2026, introducing domestic institutional capital into what had been a foreign-owned infrastructure play. The press release does not distinguish between Midrand and CPT1 for GPU allocation — both SA facilities are part of the NCP deployment. **Capacity:** Not stated in source — requires a primary source (ADC press releases, company filings). **Source URL s2:** The Cassava press release URL is a placeholder — replace with the actual URL.

Infrastructure

Tier guide →
Connectivity
Cassava Technologies pan-African fibre-optic network (high-speed, ultra-low-latency)

Pan-African fibre network owned by Cassava Technologies, described as high-speed ultra-low-latency.

confirmed [s2]
AI cooling readiness
Not assessed

Cooling adequacy for AI workloads has not been independently assessed for this facility.

AI data centres require ~100 kW/rack (10× conventional). Liquid cooling at rack level is the key differentiator. Learn more →

Grid utility
Eskom
Grid carbon intensity
900 g CO₂/kWh

Eskom grid average ~900 gCO₂/kWh per Eskom Integrated Reports (2022-23). Grid-level figure, not facility-specific.

estimated ≈ [s1]
PPA partners
Distributed Power Africa

12MW solar farm near Bloemfontein with Distributed Power Africa, powering ADC SA portfolio under wheeling.

reported [s1]

Grid carbon context

900 g CO₂/kWh — Very high — coal-heavy grid

2.1× the global average (436 g CO₂/kWh, IEA 2022). Compare: France ~60, UK ~175, US ~400 g CO₂/kWh.

Grid-level estimate. PPAs and on-site renewables may reduce the effective carbon footprint.

Water source
municipal
Water stress (WRI)
high

Governance

Data residency →
Jurisdiction
South Africa
Data residency
Data physically resident in South Africa under POPIA jurisdiction

Workload Profile

Training vs inference →
AI Training AI Inference General Cloud Colocation

AI training and inference capacity confirmed. Cassava/ADC is an NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP), deploying NVIDIA accelerated computing and AI software using NCP reference architectures. NVIDIA GPU supercomputers enable model training, fine-tuning, and advanced inference. The press release targets SA deployment by June 2025; site-specific allocation between Midrand and CPT1 is not publicly disclosed.

Entities

Operator

Africa Data Centres

Owners

Africa Data Centres

Stanlib Infrastructure Fund II

Location

Midrand, Gauteng, ZA

-25.9999, 28.1281

city precision

Status History

  1. expanded

    2026-01-31

    Stanlib Infrastructure Fund II acquired major stake in ADC SA operations; approved end-January 2026.

  2. expanded

    2025-06-01

    NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP) accelerated computing platform deployed at SA data centres by June 2025; AI training and inference workloads activated.

  3. operational

    2020-01-01

    Founding year approximate — ADC entered South Africa circa 2020.

Record

ID
adc-jhb1-midrand
First tracked
2026-05-11
Last verified
2026-05-11

Sources

  1. s0
    JHB1 Midrand Data Centre — Africa Data Centres
    company official retrieved 2026-06-29 not yet archived
  2. s1
    Wheeling and dealing behind South Africa's AI factories — UCT AI Initiative
    trade press retrieved 2026-05-11 not yet archived
  3. s2
    Cassava Technologies announces Africa's first AI Factory powered by NVIDIA — Cassava Technologies
    company official retrieved 2026-05-11 not yet archived
About these source tiers
company official

Press releases, investor relations filings, and product pages from the operating company.

trade press

Specialist outlets (DatacenterDynamics, DataCenter Knowledge, etc.) with editorial standards.

Full ranking: Methodology · Glossary

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