Live · OperationalAI-ReadyVerified

iXAfrica NBOX1

iXAfrica Data Centres · Cabanas, Mombasa Road, Industrial Area, Nairobi, Nairobi County

iXAfrica NBOX1 is a operational data centre facility in Nairobi, Kenya, operated by iXAfrica Data Centres. Its designed capacity is 22.5 MW, of which 4.5 MW of IT load is live. The facility carries a Tier III rating. It sits inside DC254's four-stage supply pipeline , see how Kenya's market stages up.

Compare iXAfrica NBOX1 with Microsoft–G42 AI Data Centre · iXAfrica NBOX2 (Tilisi)

Side by side

4.5 MW

Live IT load

22.5 MW

Total capacity

780

Racks

III

Tier rating

Hyperscale

Facility type

Yes

AI ready

Free-air cooling (operator-stated)

Cooling

2024

Opened

Overview

East Africa's first hyperscale, AI-ready data centre. Purpose-built facility along Mombasa Road offering carrier-neutral colocation with direct access to submarine cable connectivity.

Why it matters

Phase one (NBOX1.1) unveiled 28 February 2025 alongside a new KIXP point of presence, with LINX Nairobi also on site. Operator cites up to 40 kW per rack and a campus PUE target of 1.25. On 27 January 2026 iXAfrica announced it will host Oracle Cloud Infrastructure's Nairobi region, no launch date given. Official campus specs (retrieved 22 September 2026): NBOX1.1 live at 4.5 MW with 780 racks; NBOX1.2 adds 18 MW with 3,744 racks, for a campus design of 22.5 MW.

Where marketing and evidence diverge

Marketing materials describe a 22.5 MW campus (NBOX1.1 4.5 MW + NBOX1.2 at 18 MW / 3,744 racks). Only phase one is verifiable as operating; the 18 MW second building is under construction, not confirmed complete.

Certification position: Widely described as "Tier III standard", but iXAfrica does not appear in Uptime Institute's Kenya awards directory, and no Uptime Tier certification, ISO 27001 or PCI DSS claim appeared on its own site when checked (Sep 2026). "Built to Tier III standards" is a design statement, not a third-party certification.

Power

Kenya Power grid + on-site diesel generators

Kenya grid is 75%+ renewable (geothermal, hydro, wind)

Connectivity · 7 providers

  • Liquid Datapoint Fibre
  • WIOCC Submarine
  • SEACOM Submarine
  • Telkom Kenya Fibre
  • Safaricom Fibre
  • KIXP IXP
  • LINX Nairobi IXP

Verification

Verified6 claims · 2 sources · Primary (1) · Independent (1)

Last editorial evidence review: 2026-09-22

View evidence

iXAfrica operates the NBOX1 (Nairobi X One) data centre facility in Nairobi.

verified

Editor review 2026-09-22: confirmed against the official iXAfrica campus specs and site.

  • Tier 1 · PrimaryiXAfrica official site retrieved 2026-09-22
    “NBOX1.1: 4.5MW IT Load 780 Racks | 2.25MW Ready 40 kW available per rack NBOX1.2: 18MW IT Load 3,744 Racks”
  • Tier 2 · IndependentPeeringDB facility record #13572 (iXAfrica NBOX1) retrieved 2026-09-22 · published 2023-04-14
    “PeeringDB record: name "iXAfrica NBOX1 (Nairobi X One)"; address1 "Cabanas, Mombasa Road."; Nairobi, Kenya; 43 networks present; record created 2023-04-14; notes: "Award winning iXAfrica Data Centres in Nairobi, Kenya is East Africa's First and Largest Hyper-scale Carrier-neutral"”

iXAfrica Data Centres is the operator of NBOX1.

verified

Editor review 2026-09-22: confirmed against the official iXAfrica campus specs and site.

  • Tier 1 · PrimaryiXAfrica official site retrieved 2026-09-22
    “NBOX1.1: 4.5MW IT Load 780 Racks | 2.25MW Ready 40 kW available per rack NBOX1.2: 18MW IT Load 3,744 Racks”
  • Tier 2 · IndependentPeeringDB facility record #13572 (iXAfrica NBOX1) retrieved 2026-09-22 · published 2023-04-14
    “PeeringDB record: name "iXAfrica NBOX1 (Nairobi X One)"; address1 "Cabanas, Mombasa Road."; Nairobi, Kenya; 43 networks present; record created 2023-04-14; notes: "Award winning iXAfrica Data Centres in Nairobi, Kenya is East Africa's First and Largest Hyper-scale Carrier-neutral"”

NBOX1 is positioned as a hyperscale, carrier-neutral, AI-ready facility.

verified

Editor review 2026-09-22: hyperscale, carrier-neutral, AI-ready positioning confirmed against the official site. Superlatives (first and largest) remain marketing language, not verified fact.

  • Tier 1 · PrimaryiXAfrica official site retrieved 2026-09-22
    “NBOX1.1: 4.5MW IT Load 780 Racks | 2.25MW Ready 40 kW available per rack NBOX1.2: 18MW IT Load 3,744 Racks”
  • Tier 2 · IndependentPeeringDB facility record #13572 (iXAfrica NBOX1) retrieved 2026-09-22 · published 2023-04-14
    “PeeringDB record: name "iXAfrica NBOX1 (Nairobi X One)"; address1 "Cabanas, Mombasa Road."; Nairobi, Kenya; 43 networks present; record created 2023-04-14; notes: "Award winning iXAfrica Data Centres in Nairobi, Kenya is East Africa's First and Largest Hyper-scale Carrier-neutral"”

NBOX1 is located at Cabanas, Mombasa Road, Nairobi.

verified

Editor review 2026-09-22: Mombasa Road / Cabanas location confirmed against the official site and registry.

  • Tier 1 · PrimaryiXAfrica official site retrieved 2026-09-22
    “NBOX1.1: 4.5MW IT Load 780 Racks | 2.25MW Ready 40 kW available per rack NBOX1.2: 18MW IT Load 3,744 Racks”
  • Tier 2 · IndependentPeeringDB facility record #13572 (iXAfrica NBOX1) retrieved 2026-09-22 · published 2023-04-14
    “PeeringDB record: name "iXAfrica NBOX1 (Nairobi X One)"; address1 "Cabanas, Mombasa Road."; Nairobi, Kenya; 43 networks present; record created 2023-04-14; notes: "Award winning iXAfrica Data Centres in Nairobi, Kenya is East Africa's First and Largest Hyper-scale Carrier-neutral"”

NBOX1 is operational.

verified

Editor review 2026-09-22: NBOX1.1 live at 4.5 MW per the official campus specs; operational status consistent with independent 2025 launch reports.

  • Tier 1 · PrimaryiXAfrica official site retrieved 2026-09-22
    “NBOX1.1: 4.5MW IT Load 780 Racks | 2.25MW Ready 40 kW available per rack NBOX1.2: 18MW IT Load 3,744 Racks”
  • Tier 2 · IndependentPeeringDB facility record #13572 (iXAfrica NBOX1) retrieved 2026-09-22 · published 2023-04-14
    “PeeringDB record: name "iXAfrica NBOX1 (Nairobi X One)"; address1 "Cabanas, Mombasa Road."; Nairobi, Kenya; 43 networks present; record created 2023-04-14; notes: "Award winning iXAfrica Data Centres in Nairobi, Kenya is East Africa's First and Largest Hyper-scale Carrier-neutral"”

NBOX1.1 is live at 4.5 MW of IT load with 780 racks; the NBOX1.2 expansion adds 18 MW and 3,744 racks.

verified

Operator-stated figures, verbatim on the official campus specs (NBOX1.1: 4.5MW IT Load, 780 Racks; NBOX1.2: 18MW IT Load, 3,744 Racks). The editor verified this directly against primary documentation (2026-09-22 editorial review); the underlying document is not yet captured in this evidence store, so the rule-derived state stays as the internal signal. Upgrade-in-place follows automatically once the document is fetched and cited.

  • Tier 1 · PrimaryiXAfrica official site retrieved 2026-09-22
    “NBOX1.1: 4.5MW IT Load 780 Racks | 2.25MW Ready 40 kW available per rack NBOX1.2: 18MW IT Load 3,744 Racks”

Every claim is verified separately against tiered sources. The AI research assistant collects and scores evidence; DataCentre254's editor approves each verification decision and the full history is kept in an evidence ledger.

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