Botswana has become the target for a bold new data infrastructure initiative after U. S. operator ChillMine and Netherlands-based AAAS Energy inked a memorandum of understanding to develop a solar-plus-storage data centre campus near Palapye.
The proposed facility, intended to support AI workloads, hyperscale operations and energy-intensive computing, will be integrated into the Leupane Energy Hub and Industrial Park. The energy backbone of the hub is planned to include a 250 MW solar photovoltaic plant and a battery energy storage system of roughly 100 MW / 400 MWh, co-located with optional natural gas generation capacity from third parties.
Under the MoU, ChillMine acts as the anchor client for power supplied by the hub, while AAAS will steer energy infrastructure development. The site is approximately 260 km from Gaborone, lying along the corridor between Francistown and Botswana’s capital.
Brian Neirby, co-founder and CEO of ChillMine, emphasised the synergy between energy and data: “The combination of the energy infrastructure under development and our operational experience will enable us to deliver a best-in-class, high-performance data centre campus that can meet the rigorous demands of the world’s most sophisticated technology users.” Maarten Mennes, managing director of AAAS, called the pact “a significant step in our vision to connect sustainable energy development with the digital economy.”
The MoU does not yet disclose investment volumes or firm construction schedules, and as a non-binding agreement it mainly signals intent to collaborate and explore feasibility. The data centre’s ultimate power demands remain unspecified.
The Leupane Energy Hub has long been under development by AAAS and Botala Energy, aiming to host a mix of renewable and gas‐fired power. The hub is envisaged to serve both domestic demand and export into the Southern African Power Pool. By incorporating the data centre within this energy ecosystem, the project aims to deliver stability, flexibility and lower cost for compute.
Botswana’s digital infrastructure market has been growing: internet penetration in the country is over 80 per cent, but most cloud and hyperscale capability remains hosted abroad, particularly in South Africa. Establishing a large, green data campus locally could lower latency, reduce cross-border hosting costs, and retain value from rising demand.
Regionally, Africa is witnessing a surge in digital infrastructure investment. In Kenya, Airtel’s Nxtra arm has broken ground on a 44 MW hyperscale centre near Nairobi; in Nigeria, multiple new data hubs are under development; South Africa remains the continent’s largest data host. Botswana’s emerging entry into this space underscores growing competition for data sovereignty and localized capacity.
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