Orange Botswana Innovation Hub Data Center

Orange Botswana, the local unit of French telecom group Orange, built a US$5.2 million data center inside the Botswana Innovation Hub Science and Technology Park in Gaborone, migrating operations into the site in December 2019. The roughly 1,200 sqm facility holds Uptime Institute Tier III Certification of both Design Documents and Constructed Facility — the first Tier III design certified in Botswana and, at the time, only the second in Southern Africa — plus ISO 14001, ISO 22301 and ISO 27001 certification. Orange has cited access to around 2 MW of power and IT load in the 1–2 MW range supporting high-density racks, and describes the Orange Data Centre housed there as underpinning connectivity for close to 80% of Botswana's population through the operator's own network as well as third-party hosting. The project was completed within about a year of breaking ground. Orange's Tier III certification set a new benchmark in the Gaborone market, ahead of the lower-tier BTC and Mascom facilities already operating in the city.