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Africa Compute Tracker

JHB1 Midrand Data Centre

Also known as Africa Data Centres JHB1, ADC Midrand, Cassava Technologies Midrand

Status
Expanding
Location
Midrand, South Africa
Operator
Africa Data Centres
IT load
Not disclosed
Timeline
Not disclosed
Last verified

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.

Africa Data Centres partnered with Oni-Tel Fibre Networks to enhance connectivity at the Midrand and Samrand campuses via Oni-Tel's "Infinity" fibre interconnection platform, adding dark fibre and carrier-neutral options for Gauteng customers. The announcement cites enterprise demand for cloud adoption, AI deployment, and data-intensive workloads as the driver, though no specific bandwidth or capacity figures are given.

Capacity: Not stated in source — requires a primary source (ADC press releases, company filings).

Infrastructure

Tier certification explained
Connectivity
Cassava Technologies pan-African fibre-optic network (high-speed, ultra-low-latency), Oni-Tel Fibre Networks 'Infinity' interconnection platform — dark fibre, carrier-grade, high-capacity, ultra-low-latency connectivity
Pan-African fibre network owned by Cassava Technologies, described as high-speed ultra-low-latency. Oni-Tel partnership (announced 2026, per s3) adds dark fibre and carrier-neutral interconnection via the Infinity platform, specifically named for the Midrand and Samrand campuses.
confirmed Source [s2] Source [s3]
AI cooling readiness
Not assessed

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

AI racks draw around 100 kW each, about ten times a conventional rack, so rack-level liquid cooling is the key differentiator. Training versus inference

Power

PPAs and wheeling
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 Source [s1]
PPA partners
Distributed Power Africa
12MW solar farm near Bloemfontein with Distributed Power Africa, powering ADC SA portfolio under wheeling.
reported Source [s1]

Grid carbon in context

900 g CO₂/kWh: very high — coal-heavy grid. That is 2.1 times the global average of 436 g (IEA, 2022). For comparison, France is about 60, the UK about 175 and the US about 400.

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

Water

Water stress explained
Water source
Municipal
Water stress (WRI)
High

Governance

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

Workloads

Training versus 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.

Sources

How sources are ranked
  1. [s0]
    JHB1 Midrand Data Centre, Africa Data Centres

    company official Retrieved 29 June 2026 Not yet archived

  2. [s1]
    Wheeling and dealing behind South Africa's AI factories, UCT AI Initiative

    trade press Retrieved 11 May 2026 Not yet archived

  3. [s2]
    Cassava Technologies announces Africa's first AI Factory powered by NVIDIA, Cassava Technologies

    company official Retrieved 11 May 2026 Not yet archived

  4. [s3]
    Africa Data Centres partners with Oni-Tel to enhance data centre connectivity in South Africa, Cassava Technologies

    company official Retrieved 17 July 2026 Not yet archived

What these source types mean
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.