Data centers should benefit the cities that power them
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- The Global Urban Data Centres Pact has been signed by more than 40 cities, including London, Chicago, Mumbai, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, and Abidjan, and commits signatories to sustainable, resource-efficient data centers that respect local communities and deliver local economic benefits.
- South Africa has emerged as one of Africa's leading data center investment destinations because of its connectivity, market size, and regional position, with the administrative capital Tshwane positioning itself to capture jobs and investment from the build-out.
- The pact was launched during London Climate Action Week and is explicitly designed to ensure cities in Africa and the broader developing world are present in the rooms where data center standards are set, rather than inheriting decisions made elsewhere.
- The piece warns that data centers depend on physical infrastructure — electricity, water, roads, and municipal services — and argues that when residential service suffers while data center lights stay on, public trust in the AI economy erodes quickly.
- Beyond construction, responsible digital infrastructure can anchor growth in software development, cybersecurity, tech services, maintenance, advanced manufacturing, and digital skills, turning hosting sites into broader innovation economies.
- Nearly 60% of the world's population now lives in cities, and the article frames the pact as a way for municipalities to stop being passive hosts of infrastructure designed around outside priorities.
- The article, written from a Tshwane perspective, warns against repeating a pattern in which infrastructure arrives first and African cities scramble to manage the social, energy, and water consequences afterward.
Why it matters: With 40+ cities now bound to a common framework, municipal governments gain a collective lever to demand local benefits and service protections from hyperscale operators — a structural shift for African cities like Tshwane that have so far been treated as sites for infrastructure designed elsewhere, not partners in shaping it.
