DR Congo inaugurates first data centre

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00:00This brand new building in Kinshasa's Industrial Limite district doesn't go unnoticed.

00:05It houses Kinshasa's first ever data centre.

00:08Workers are applying the finishing touches, but inside, the centre is ready to store the

00:13reams of data available from the public sector and private companies.

00:18This is the control centre.

00:20This is the cockpit of the data centre.

00:23This is where the servers and machines are monitored 24 hours a day.

00:30We monitor the temperature in the server room, the battery room and the power distribution

00:35rooms.

00:36If the temperature rises above 24 degrees, we get an alert that there is a problem, and

00:41we take immediate action.

00:44Running a data centre is a steep challenge in a poor tropical country where power cuts

00:48are a regular occurrence.

00:50Extra safeguards have to be found to ensure the centre can operate continuously.

00:57We started with dedicated lines, clean lines, medium voltage lines, double lines, which

01:02come from two distinct production sources, the Inga dam, which serves the first line,

01:08and the Zongo dam, which serves the second line, which is here.

01:17For now, there's enough storage space, but this centre alone won't be able to satisfy

01:21future demand in DR Congo, which currently stores much of its data abroad.

01:25The Congolese administration, which still often works with paper, wants to turn digital.

01:30It's going to need ample space to store citizens' data.

01:35The very essence of a state is to ensure that Congolese data is managed in Congo by Congolese

01:42people using infrastructure that's in the country and under Congolese jurisdiction.

01:51One of the benefits to data sovereignty would be data protection, but also improving the

01:55quality of internet connection.

01:57Congolese people could also see a reduction in the cost of their mobile subscriptions.

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