Ifeanyi Odoh, Country President East Africa, Schneider Electric, spoke to EnergyNet about the new energy landscape, sustainability, the significance of data centres for East Africa, and the importance of digital infrastructure in powering the future.

What is the New Energy Landscape, and what does it mean for sustainability?

The New Energy Landscape is a new way of looking at the flow of energy.  

It represents a real historic shift from the traditional, linear energy grid — where power is generated, transmitted, and distributed to consumers — to something much more dynamic.

It reimagines how energy is produced, consumed, and distributed, by integrating renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and also enabling consumer participation.   

The system incorporates innovations such as e-mobility and smart technologies, allowing homes and businesses to actively contribute to a more stable network.

It not only addresses issues like outages but also improves energy efficiency, sustainability, and visibility for both consumers and operators. Homeowners gain better control over their energy usage, and operators benefit from predictive tools to manage the grid more effectively.

In summary, the New Energy Landscape represents a new way of interacting with electricity and energy. It focuses on making energy more sustainable, efficient, digitized, and balanced.

It  leverages new forms of energy and emerging technologies to create a sustainable, efficient, and digitized energy system to meet current and future demands.

 

The data centre industry is growing at an exponential rate. What is the state of the data centre industry in East Africa, and its significance for East African businesses?

That’s a very relevant question.

Data Centers are right at the center of the current digital revolution. They form a solid backbone of digital infrastructure and are a foundation for enabling maximum connectivity, productivity, and inclusion, extending beyond big cities like Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg, and into rural regions.

By building robust data infrastructure, East Africa will be fully ready to power a digital future..

We are happy to be part of this industry thanks to projects such as the IX Data Center, which we recently deployed in Kenya. Nicknamed ‘NBOX1’, the facility is open and ready for business as a carrier-neutral, AI-ready data centre - the largest and most technologically advanced digital habitat for cloud, colocation and connectivity in East Africa.

It is designed to attract hyperscale and internet customers to the region’s largest data hub, delivering a customer and user experience comparable to facilities in North America and Western Europe.

Underpinning the launch of NBOX1 is Schneider Electric’s proven EcoStruxure for Data Centers architecture and solutions, providing the new data centre with maximum resilience, uptime and cost efficiency, enhanced security, and the ability to meet iXAfrica’s sustainability goals.

This among other projects that we have deployed in this space; and now with the recent launch of Microsoft’s Data Center coming to Kenya, there is immense potential for this industry and this of course also demands significant energy.

Data centres are energy-intensive, which underscores the importance of a redesigned energy landscape that is intelligent, efficient, and capable of sustaining future demand. A symbiotic relationship between data, infrastructure, IT and energy is essential.

The energy has to be more digital and more efficient, to ensure that future energy demand is well taken care of.

What are you most excited about for Schneider Electric and your next year in energy in East Africa?

When I look at the macro indicators around us, I’m truly excited.

The vibrant youth population, the growing need for data centres, the rise of electric vehicles, and the increasing industrial productivity in the region make this a pivotal time.

In East Africa, we are part of the youngest continent in the world, with a median age of less than 20 — around 17 in many parts of the region.

This young, dynamic population is growing rapidly. Over the next 5-10 years, one in three people in the global workforce will be African, and within 25 years, one in four people worldwide will be African.

What’s particularly exciting is how this youthful population is embracing technology.

East Africa, and especially Kenya, has leapfrogged traditional cable networks, moving straight to mobile.

Innovations like the M-PESA have made Kenya a global leader in mobile money transfer service. Internet penetration is also rising exponentially, creating a highly dynamic, tech-savvy workforce born with phones in hand and ready to disrupt industries across all sectors.

So, I’m very excited about what Schneider Electric is doing today.

Our core business is to provide the most efficient and reliable technology to work across all different economic sectors.   This is about enabling everyone to do much more with less — making production and consumption of energy as efficient as possible.

What’s even more exciting is the long-term potential. In 25 years, one in four people globally will be African, meaning we’ll have an additional billion people we need to take care of.

This makes now the perfect time to rethink infrastructure. Across all economic sectors, we must ensure that infrastructure is digital-ready, efficient from the outset, net-zero by design, and sustainable.

Our role is to equip people with the tools and knowledge to achieve this. In Kenya, we are local, we have a very strong team in East Africa, a new office in Tanzania, and we’re expanding in Uganda.

Our focus is not just to talk about solutions, but to partner with stakeholders to build a future we can all be proud of.

 

What are you most looking forward to at the East African Energy Cooperation Summit?

To create a future that is inclusive, sustainable, digital, and productive, we need the right partners.

It’s not a one-man show. While we’re doing our part, collaboration is key.

The summit provides an opportunity to connect with like-minded stakeholders, share ideas, learn from initiatives, and scale solutions.

We’re particularly eager to form partnerships that address sustainable and smart building needs, especially in countries like Tanzania and Kenya, where a growing, youthful population will require new homes and buildings. 

We look forward to collaborating with partners across the region to support growth in manufacturing, sustainable construction, and the development of smart cities.

And we’re excited about partnering with data centre operators to build the digital infrastructure needed for tomorrow.  

 

Ifeanyi Odoh will be speaking in the panel discussion: Digital Infrastructure – Catalyst for Energy Industry Growth on Thursday 30 January.