G42 / Microsoft Azure East Africa Data Centre

G42 (Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud company, backed by Microsoft's $1.5B investment in April 2024) is developing a $1 billion data centre in Kenya, which will host Microsoft's Azure East Africa cloud region. The facility was announced via a letter of intent (LOI) signed on 24 May 2024 between Microsoft, G42, and Kenya's Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy — coinciding with President William Ruto's state visit to the United States. **Power:** The facility will be powered by geothermal energy — Kenya's primary renewable source (Kenya is the 8th largest geothermal producer globally). Kenya's grid carbon intensity is approximately 60–70 gCO₂/kWh, making this one of the lowest-carbon data centres on the continent. **Status note:** The source article is from May 2024. As of May 2026, definitive agreements may have been signed and construction may be underway. This record should be verified against more recent sources — update status to `under_construction` or `operational` as appropriate. **G42 context:** G42 is building a Swahili/English open-source LLM at time of announcement. Microsoft's $1.5B investment in G42 (April 2024) includes a commitment to cloud interoperability. The Kenya facility is part of Microsoft's broader African cloud expansion alongside its South Africa Azure regions. **Source URL:** The Reuters article URL is a placeholder — replace with the actual article URL.