Africa shifts hardware strategy from phones to infrastructure backbone
Africa's relationship with technology shifted fundamentally in 2025, moving from importing devices to building the physical infrastructure that powers the digital economy. The focus is now on data centres, fibre networks and energy systems—strategic assets that determine how much value the continent retains from digital growth.
Early attempts at local phone manufacturing exposed both promise and limits. Rwanda's Mara Phones project, which locally manufactured motherboards, ultimately buckled under price competition from Chinese and Korean alternatives despite creating skilled jobs. Kenya took a more pragmatic route. East Africa Device Assembly Limited (EADAK), backed by Safaricom and partners, focuses on volume production of affordable 4G smartphones. The Nairobi plant has produced over 1.5 million devices since late 2023, supporting Safaricom's goal to connect 20 million customers with 4G-enabled devices. Favourable government policies helped reduce device costs by about 30%, though Neon smartphones still hold just 0.68% of the local handset market by mid-2025.
Energy hardware has proven more viable. Kenya's Solinc solar plant in Naivasha produces over 140,000 panels annually (8.4 MW capacity), serving rural households and commercial projects up to 500 kW. The pay-as-you-go model has unlocked mass-market adoption, while regional exports to Uganda and Tanzania expanded its reach. However, critical upstream components like wafers remain Asian-dominated, showing localisation limits.
What distinguishes 2025 is the shift to systems-scale industrialisation. Data centre power demand across Africa is forecast to hit 2 GW by 2030, requiring $10-20 billion investment. Kenya's $1 billion geothermal-powered data centre, backed by Microsoft and G42, signals Africa can host green, AI-ready infrastructure at global scale.
Connectivity infrastructure expanded dramatically. Subsea cables like Google's Equiano and Meta's 2Africa pushed total capacity beyond 1,835 Tbps. Nigeria launched a 90,000km terrestrial fibre partnership, while Coleman Wires and Cables commissioned Africa's largest fibre-optic plant—capable of producing nine million kilometres annually, enough for half the continent's demand.
The convergence is clearest in energy-digital integration. Teraco's 120 MW solar PV plant in South Africa will generate 354,000 MWh annually. Across the continent, operators pivot to captive renewable energy as data centres cannot rely on unstable grids.
Challenges remain. Most localisation occurs at assembly stage; high-value inputs still flow from Asia. Hardware remains underfunded compared to software. Policy volatility deters long-term investment. As Alex Tsado of Alliance4ai notes, Africa must move from "awareness to allocation"—dedicating specific budget portions to sovereign hardware.
The direction is clear: Africa's hardware push has crossed a threshold, aligning manufacturing with hyperscale infrastructure, renewable energy and global data flows. The question is no longer whether Africa can build hardware, but whether it can scale fast enough to anchor its digital future.
This transformation matters to every Nigerian because control over infrastructure determines economic sovereignty. As data centres become critical national assets, local manufacturing directly impacts your digital privacy, data costs, and vulnerability to external supply disruptions. Will Nigeria accelerate investments like Coleman's fibre plant to capture this infrastructure wave, or risk falling behind as Kenya and Rwanda build strategic capacity? The hardware race is no longer about gadgets—it's about who controls the backbone of Africa's digital economy.
SOURCE: https://techcabal.com/2026/01/08/how-africas-infrastructure-ambitions-scaled-up-in-2025/