GhanaChat data centre could require $61m annual subsidy – Bright Simons
Bright Simons of the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education questioned the financial viability of a proposed artificial intelligence data centre in Ghana. The facility costs 270 million US dollars and aims to support GhanaChat. Simons warned that operating costs might require significant annual government subsidies, potentially reaching 61 million dollars. The centre would use about 2,100 graphics processing units and have an IT load of 4.3 megawatts. This capacity represents roughly 90 percent of the total commercial data centre load in Ghana for 2024.
Vice-President and head of Research at the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Bright Simons has questioned the financial viability of Ghana’s proposed US$270 million artificial intelligence (AI) data centre, warning that its operating costs could require substantial annual government subsidies. In an analysis published on X, Mr Simons said the facility, which is expected to support the development and hosting of GhanaChat, would have a computing capacity of about 2,100 graphics processing units (GPUs) and an information technology (IT) load of 4.3 megawatts (MW). He said this would add the equivalent of about 90 per cent of Ghana’s entire commercial data centre load in 2024, estimated at 4.8 MW.