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.