RACA Journal I April 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 13
DATA CENTRE FEATURE SERIES
Technology is constantly evolving, Weber notes, underlining the rapid pace of change in data centre design. " There’ s a trade-off between performance and cost – especially for smaller systems. If you were to use chilled water cooling for a small deployment, the operating costs would be enormous compared to a DX( Direct Expansion) system. It ' s about finding the right balance to ensure the data centre can operate efficiently and sustainably from day one."
From a business development perspective, MPT actively identifies key market segments ripe for evolution. Reid points to African telcos, many of whom are poised to leapfrog several generations of mobile technology, demanding significantly upgraded infrastructure. " The infrastructure that they ' ve got has never really been designed to be able to handle what a new data centre would require. So it ' s‘ how do you close those gaps’, and‘ how do we help them upgrade’?"
The growth across Africa is undeniable. MPT is seeing a surge in enquiries from countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Côte d’ Ivoire. " A lot of the demand has been created out of the data sovereignty laws that are changing. Governments increasingly mandate that sensitive data, previously stored on overseas clouds, must reside within national borders.
This regulatory shift is a powerful catalyst for in-country data centre development,” says Reid.
Power availability remains a significant challenge across the African continent, particularly for data centres that require consistent, high-quality electricity to operate efficiently. Addressing this hurdle requires robust, secure power solutions that can support reliable, energy-efficient and future-ready cooling infrastructure – critical components for enabling Africa’ s digital transformation. RACA
Master Power Technologies( MPT) at the 2025 Pan-African Data Centre Exhibition and Conference.
Data centres
RACA Journal I April 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 13