A major technology infrastructure project in Kenya has encountered significant setbacks following failed negotiations between Microsoft and the East African nation’s government, according to a Bloomberg News report published Sunday.
The tech giant had announced plans in 2024 to collaborate with United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence company G42 on a $1 billion data center facility in Kenya, designed to enhance cloud computing capabilities throughout the East African region.
However, the project has stalled after Microsoft and its UAE partner requested that Kenya’s government guarantee annual purchases of a specified amount of data center capacity, Bloomberg reported, citing sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
The discussions ultimately collapsed when Kenyan officials were unable to provide the financial commitments at the scale that Microsoft had demanded, according to the report.
