Zimbabwe digital infrastructure growth is gaining momentum as Econet Infraco advances plans to expand local data centre capacity. While Africa still accounts for less than 1% of global data centre capacity, countries like Zimbabwe are positioning themselves within the continent’s evolving digital economy.
According to Data Centres in Africa 2026 – The Economic Report, Africa’s IT load capacity is projected to reach approximately 1.2 gigawatts by 2030. However, global capacity is expected to expand even faster, largely driven by AI-focused mega campuses in North America, Europe and Asia. As a result, Africa’s share of global capacity remains structurally constrained.
Zimbabwe’s entry into this space through Econet Infraco reflects a broader shift toward regional digital sovereignty and infrastructure self-reliance.
Econet Infraco, the infrastructure arm of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, has invested in fibre backbones and carrier-neutral facilities designed to host enterprise, government and financial services workloads. The company’s strategy aligns with the wider trajectory of Zimbabwe digital infrastructure growth, which prioritises reduced latency, improved resilience and enhanced data security.
By strengthening domestic hosting capacity, Zimbabwe reduces dependence on offshore data centres located in Europe and North America. This shift is particularly important as African governments increasingly adopt data localisation frameworks.
However, utilisation remains a challenge across the continent. Outside South Africa, only about one-third of built data centre capacity is fully operational or fitted out. Zimbabwe must therefore balance infrastructure expansion with demand stimulation.
Despite growing investment momentum, several structural constraints continue to limit demand and slow Zimbabwe digital infrastructure growth. Connectivity costs remain high relative to average income levels, making enterprise cloud adoption more expensive than in many global markets. In addition, many businesses still rely on on-premise infrastructure rather than migrating fully to cloud-based environments, which reduces immediate load on local data centres.
Power reliability also remains a critical concern. Data centres require stable and consistent electricity supply, and energy instability increases operational risk and costs. At the same time, skills shortages in digital infrastructure management and advanced IT systems create further bottlenecks in scaling operations efficiently.
A significant portion of African digital traffic still routes offshore to Europe and North America. This pattern limits the immediate utilisation of local capacity, even where facilities are available. For Zimbabwe digital infrastructure growth to accelerate sustainably, infrastructure expansion must be matched by stronger enterprise adoption, lower connectivity costs and improved energy stability.
Artificial intelligence workloads are latency-sensitive. They require stable power and proximity to users. This dynamic could favour local facilities in Zimbabwe and across Southern Africa.
As AI adoption expands in fintech, agriculture, logistics and health sectors, facilities built ahead of demand may begin to fill more rapidly. Zimbabwe digital infrastructure growth will depend on whether policymakers and operators can accelerate ecosystem readiness.
Africa’s data centre sector is expanding quickly. Zimbabwe’s push through Econet Infraco reflects continental ambition. Yet unless energy infrastructure strengthens, connectivity costs fall and enterprise digital migration deepens, the continent risks remaining underrepresented in global capacity.
Zimbabwe digital infrastructure growth is therefore both an opportunity and a test case. Infrastructure supply is increasing. The next challenge is unlocking sustained demand.
