Marcel Louw, Digital Realty’s new managing director of Africa, will provide strategic leadership across Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Ghana, while building on the strength of Digital Realty’s existing operations. He will also continue to expand the company’s global data centre platform, PlatformDIGITAL, in Africa.

Reporting to Paula Cogan, managing director of EMEA at Digital Realty, Louw will help support the company’s long-term vision for Africa’s digital future.

He brings with him more than 20 years of fund management and infrastructure experience, having previously worked at an Africa-focused private equity fund manager Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Managers. Here, he helped establish several funds and led major infrastructure investments, including data centres in a joint venture with Digital Realty.

Prior to this, Louw spent five years at The Carlyle Group’s Structured Credit Group in London and also held positions at Goldman Sachs (London) and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

“Marcel’s extensive experience in infrastructure investment and fund management across Africa, the UK and Europe will be instrumental in driving our next phase of growth on the continent,” said Paula Cogan, managing director in EMEA.

“His proven track record in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects aligns perfectly with our mission to support enterprises – both global and local – as they scale and innovate in Africa.”

Building on an already strong presence across Africa, Digital Realty is expanding its vast network and data centre capabilities across the continent. Its aim is to support economic growth, enable cross-border collaboration and seamlessly link African businesses to the global digital economy.

Already, the data centre giant has invested more than US$2 billion in Africa to date as it seeks to build an interconnection ecosystem. It was also ranked number one in Africa on Cloudscene’s Data Center Ecosystem Leaderboard.

Commenting on his appointment, Louw said, “Africa is one of the world’s most dynamic digital frontiers, and its influence on the global digital economy continues to grow. As the continent’s leading data centre provider, Digital Realty is uniquely positioned to deliver the critical infrastructure that connects Africa to the world.

“Together with our talented team, we will continue to build the platforms that drive innovation, expand opportunity, and deepen Africa’s integration into the global digital ecosystem.”

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