Imagine you run a growing technology company in Nairobi. You have ten servers humming in a converted storeroom in your office, connected to a single Safaricom fibre line, protected by a consumer-grade UPS that would last maybe 15 minutes during a power cut, and cooled by the building's air conditioning system that was designed for humans, not for machines that generate heat 24 hours a day. Every time there is a power blip, your IT team holds their breath. Every time the building management switches off the AC at night to save power, your server room temperature creeps up. Every time your single internet connection drops, your entire business goes offline.
This is the problem that colocation solves. Instead of housing your servers in an inadequate, improvised space, you rent space in a purpose-built data centre that provides professional-grade power, cooling, connectivity, and security. Your servers sit in a facility designed specifically for them, with redundant power supplies, precision cooling, multiple fibre connections from different providers, biometric access control, 24/7 security cameras, and fire suppression systems. You own the servers and the data on them. You manage the software and applications. But the physical infrastructure (the building, the power, the cooling, the connectivity) is provided by the colocation operator.
Colocation is one of the oldest and most fundamental services in the data centre industry. It is the service that launched companies like Equinix, Digital Realty, and Teraco into multi-billion-dollar global businesses. And it is a service that is growing rapidly in Kenya as more organisations recognise the limitations of running their own server rooms.
How Colocation Works
Colocation is, at its core, a real estate and infrastructure service. The colocation provider builds and operates a data centre facility, and then rents space within that facility to multiple customers. The key principle is that multiple unrelated customers share the same physical facility, but their equipment, data, and network traffic are completely separated.
Space Units
Colocation space is typically sold in three units. A rack (also called a cabinet) is the standard unit, a metal frame approximately 600mm wide, 1,070mm deep, and 2 metres tall, with 42 vertical slots (called "U" for rack units) for mounting equipment. A standard 1U server is about 44mm tall, so a full rack can hold 42 1U servers (in practice, fewer because servers need airflow space). A half-rack provides 21U of space, and a quarter-rack provides approximately 10U.
For larger deployments, customers can rent a cage, a wire mesh enclosure within the data centre that provides additional physical security and privacy. Cages are typically used by customers who need 10 or more racks. For the largest customers, some facilities offer private suites, essentially a room within the data centre that only that customer can access.
Power
Colocation pricing is closely tied to power allocation. Each rack comes with a specific power allocation, typically measured in kilowatts (kW). A standard rack allocation in Kenya is 4–6kW, which is sufficient for 10–20 modern servers. High-density racks, needed for GPU servers or dense compute platforms, may require 10–20kW per rack, which costs more because of the additional cooling and power distribution infrastructure required.
Power is delivered to the rack through power distribution units (PDUs) that are part of the facility's infrastructure. Most colocation racks are equipped with dual PDUs, each connected to a separate power path (A and B feeds), so that a failure in one power path does not affect the other. Servers with dual power supplies can connect to both PDUs, providing power redundancy at the server level.
Cooling
Colocation facilities maintain strict environmental conditions: temperature typically between 18–27°C and humidity between 20–80% relative humidity, in accordance with ASHRAE guidelines. Precision air conditioning systems, computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units or computer room air handling (CRAH) units, maintain these conditions continuously. In Nairobi's moderate climate, some facilities use free cooling (drawing in outside air when conditions permit) to reduce energy consumption, as explained in our cooling systems guide.
Connectivity
One of the most important features of a carrier-neutral colocation facility is connectivity choice. In a carrier-neutral facility, multiple network providers (Safaricom, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Telkom Kenya, Jamii Telecommunications, and others) have equipment in the facility's meet-me room. Customers can connect to any or all of these providers, choosing based on price, performance, redundancy, or specific service requirements. This is fundamentally different from a non-neutral facility (like a telecom-owned data centre) where you can only connect to that operator's network.
Colocation in Kenya: The Market
Kenya's colocation market is served by several providers, each with different strengths and market positions.
iXAfrica
iXAfrica operates the NBOX1 and NBOX1.1 facilities along Mombasa Road in Nairobi. NBOX1 opened in 2023 as a purpose-built, carrier-neutral colocation facility designed to Tier III standards. It offers retail colocation (individual racks and half-racks) and wholesale colocation (dedicated rooms or cages for large customers). iXAfrica's facility is notable for its focus on sustainability and is designed to achieve low PUE values, leveraging Nairobi's climate for free cooling.
Africa Data Centres
Africa Data Centres, part of the Cassava Technologies group, operates multiple facilities in Nairobi including the Sameer Business Park and Westlands sites. As Africa's largest colocation provider by footprint, ADC brings scale and standardised processes to the Kenyan market. Their integration with Liquid Intelligent Technologies' fibre network provides connectivity advantages, and their pan-African presence allows customers to deploy in multiple African countries through a single provider relationship.
Safaricom
Safaricom's data centres primarily serve the company's own needs, mobile network infrastructure, M-Pesa processing, and enterprise cloud services. However, Safaricom also offers colocation to enterprise customers, particularly those who want an integrated solution combining colocation with connectivity (Safaricom fibre and mobile) and cloud services. Safaricom's facilities are not carrier-neutral (customers primarily connect to Safaricom's network) which is a limitation for customers who want multi-provider connectivity.
Pricing in the Kenyan Market
Colocation pricing in Kenya varies by provider, space unit, power allocation, and contract terms. Here are indicative ranges based on current market rates.
Full rack (42U, 4-6kW): KES 60,000–120,000 per month. This typically includes the rack space, power allocation, basic cooling, 24/7 access, and shared internet connectivity (a base bandwidth allocation). Additional charges apply for extra power, cross-connects to specific providers, remote hands services, and premium support.
Half rack (21U, 2-3kW): KES 35,000–70,000 per month. Per-unit pricing is higher than a full rack (you pay a small premium for the smaller commitment), but the total cost is lower, making it accessible to smaller organisations.
Quarter rack (10U, 1-2kW): KES 20,000–45,000 per month. Best suited for small businesses or organisations with just a few servers that need professional infrastructure.
Dedicated cage (10+ racks): KES 50,000–90,000 per rack per month. Volume discounts apply for larger deployments, and pricing is typically negotiated individually.
These prices are competitive by African standards, roughly 20–30% lower than equivalent colocation in Lagos and comparable to mid-tier facilities in Johannesburg. The main additional costs to budget for are cross-connect fees (KES 5,000–15,000 one-time per connection), remote hands charges (KES 2,000–5,000 per incident), and excess power charges if you exceed your allocated power.
Choosing a Provider: What to Look For
Selecting a colocation provider is a significant decision, your servers, your data, and potentially your entire business operation will depend on that provider's facility. Here are the key factors to evaluate.
Carrier neutrality: Can you connect to multiple network providers? This is non-negotiable for most enterprise customers. Ask which providers have equipment in the meet-me room and whether there are any restrictions on connectivity.
Tier rating: What tier of reliability does the facility target? Tier III (N+1 redundancy on power and cooling) is the minimum for enterprise workloads. Some facilities claim tier ratings without independent certification, ask whether the facility has been certified by the Uptime Institute or another recognised body.
Security: What physical security measures are in place? Biometric access, 24/7 CCTV, mantraps, on-site security personnel, and individual rack locking should all be standard. Ask about the facility's security certifications and whether they have ISO 27001.
Power: What is the power availability and reliability? Ask about the facility's total power capacity, the utilisation level (how much is already committed to existing customers), the generator fuel storage duration, and whether the facility has dedicated Kenya Power feeders.
SLA: What does the Service Level Agreement guarantee? A professional colocation SLA should guarantee 99.99% or better uptime, with financial credits if the facility fails to meet this target. Read the SLA carefully, some providers exclude scheduled maintenance, force majeure events, or customer-caused outages from the SLA calculation.
Colocation is not the right choice for every organisation. Small businesses with just one or two servers may be better served by cloud services. Organisations that do not want to manage any hardware at all should look at managed hosting or cloud. But for organisations that need control over their hardware, have compliance requirements that mandate data location, or have workloads that are not cost-effective to run in the cloud, colocation remains the most practical and cost-effective option in Kenya's growing data centre market.
Ready to go deeper on the buying decision? Our Nairobi colocation buyer's guide walks through what Tier III really means, which facilities are operational as of September 2026, and the questions to ask before you sign anything.