• Orange Morocco opens 1.5MW data center in Casablanca to boost digital capacity
  
• Facility supports cloud, AI, and cybersecurity under Maroc Digital 2030 strategy
  
• Solar-powered center enhances digital sovereignty amid Africa-wide infrastructure gap
  

Orange Morocco has opened its new “Orange Tech” data center in Casablanca, a 1.5 megawatt (MW) facility designed to support the country’s growing needs for hosting, cloud services and cybersecurity, while contributing to the national push for digital sovereignty.

In a message on X, the operator said the new site strengthens its position as a trusted partner for companies and public institutions by providing critical infrastructure for Morocco’s digital transformation.

Built on a 15,000-square-meter site, Orange Tech combines operational redundancy with strong energy efficiency. Its technical areas meet Uptime Institute standards, and the facility is equipped with more than 1,000 solar panels, generating about 700 kWp to support self-consumption and reduce the carbon footprint of hosted services. The center is designed to support hosting and cloud workloads and to deliver high availability for applications used by businesses and government agencies, including AI-related use cases.

The project supports the country’s digital ambitions under the “Maroc Digital 2030” strategy and the “New Development Model,” which emphasize digital sovereignty, infrastructure expansion, and skills development. The launch also comes as Orange ramps up its broader strategy, including advancements in 5G, artificial intelligence, and the strengthening of its B2B service portfolio.

For Orange’s business and government clients, the data center promises improved service resilience, greater security for data stored within Morocco, and better overall performance. It also enables new digital services, including sovereign cloud options, local AI processing, and high-availability hosting for mission-critical applications.

The launch takes place as Africa faces a severe shortage of data center capacity. As of mid-2023, the continent accounted for less than 2 percent of global colocation supply, with most facilities concentrated in South Africa, according to the “Data Centres in Africa Focus” report by Oxford Business Group.

Samira Njoya