Kenya to Host One of Africa`s Mega Data Centres

Kenya is set to host one of the two Root Server (IMRS) clusters that will be set up in Africa, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced on Monday.

The new data hubs are equipped with multiple servers with a high bandwidth that will offer faster Internet speed. This will provide immunity against cyberattacks throughout the continent.

Kenya`s ICT Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Mucheru thanked ICANN “for their confidence in choosing Kenya one more time as hosts of this important infrastructure that would serve not only Kenya but the rest of Africa and the world.”

The new infrastructure is in accord with Kenya`s Digital Economy Blueprint which categorizes infrastructure as one of the most important requirements for the digital revolution of the economy.

“Implementation of this initiative will be of immense importance in accelerating the digital transformation agenda in Kenya”, commented Mr. Mucheru.

Globally, there are four such data centers, one located in Europe, one in Asia, and two in North America. In Africa, ICANN has a mission to expand infrastructure by ensuring the Internet remains stable, secure, and resilient.

The clusters will reduce the time it takes for a website to load, particularly when there are spikes in Internet usage

The firm operates by translating Internet queries into numeric codes via the Domain Name System (DNS). The DNS is a root server that is responsible for translating domain names into IP addresses. For instance, when a user types something, it identifies the search it links it to a unique IP address.

Kenya has recently become a mark for cyber-crimes due to the country`s highly digitalized economy. Most local cyber-attacks involve criminals collecting personal data and using it to obtain cash.

With a higher data processing capacity, the threat of the Internet going down because of hackers will be remarkably reduced.

With high bandwidth, the two IMRS clusters are set to reduce the risk of the Internet being overwhelmed with hackers.