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Plan now for infrastructure to power AI
Tomorrow’s test is whether it has the electricity, computing capacity, resilient data centres, fibre and skilled people to operate the intelligent economy taking shape upon them, writes Godfrey Mutabazi
Godfrey Mutabazi. (File)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By Godfrey Mutabazi
Uganda has settled the argument that artificial intelligence (AI) matters. The harder question is whether the country is preparing the foundations AI will need.
At national scale, AI is not software. It depends on processors, data centres, high-capacity fibre, cooling, secure data and reliable electricity. Capability is advancing far faster than the infrastructure required to support it can be designed, financed and built.
The International Energy Agency projects that global data-centre electricity use will more than double to 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, with AI the main driver. A facility can be running within two or three years; generation, transmission and grid connections often take far longer. If Uganda waits until computational demand is obvious, it may already be late.
The country is not starting from nothing. The National Backbone Infrastructure now connects more than 1,600 government and target-user sites. The National Data Centre hosts government cloud, backup and disaster recovery services; NITA-U records more than 300 applications for 100 entities. In 2025 Government launched a Data Centre Market Study to guide a third National Data Centre that is scalable and AI-ready. The 2025/26 2029/30 strategic plan provides for that centre, with a primary site in Entebbe and disaster recovery in Jinja, alongside further backbone expansion.
These are substantial foundations. They are not a national compute plan. A market study and another government facility will not show how much computational capacity the economy will need as AI spreads through public services, finance, telecoms, health, agriculture and industry,or whether electricity, fibre and skills can grow with it.
Nor can Uganda buy its way out. A modern AI data centre, built for continuous high-density computing rather than ordinary government hosting, sits beyond what the public purse can finance. The machines, power connection, cooling and fibre exceed a ministry vote, and they work only if the rest of the system arrives with them.
Government should, therefore, turn existing studies into a co-ordinated 10–15-year National Compute and Data Centre Infrastructure Programme. Computational capacity should be treated as productive national infrastructure. Because the state cannot underwrite such a facility alone, the programme should be an investment framework: linking demand to power, fibre, land, finance, regulation and skills and crowding in private operators and development partners rather than waiting for the treasury to purchase an industry.
The plan should map public and private capacity and forecast demand under different growth paths. Uganda could model additional loads of 10 MW, 25 MW, 50 MW and 100 MW, planning figures, not construction targets, and reconcile them with the market study so power, fibre and land can be phased with demand. It should identify and protect compute zones with reliable power, high-capacity fibre, suitable land, security and room for expansion. They need not all sit in Kampala. As grid access determines where investment goes, the country should know which areas can support serious facilities before investors arrive.
Electricity and compute planning must be joined. Large AI sites need continuous, high-quality power and heavy cooling. Major investors can become anchor customers for new generation, transmission and storage, so new computational demand expands the electricity system rather than consuming what is already there. Uganda should insist on efficient equipment, renewable power, water-conscious cooling and reuse of waste heat where practical. A site with abundant electricity but weak fibre cannot become a serious computational hub. Power and fibre corridors should be planned together, with enough redundancy when a cable, grid connection or site fails.
These are substantial foundations. They are not a national compute plan. A market study and another government facility will not show how much computational capacity the economy will need as AI spreads through public services, finance, telecoms, health, agriculture and industry,or whether electricity, fibre and skills can grow with it.
Nor can Uganda buy its way out. A modern AI data centre, built for continuous high-density computing rather than ordinary government hosting, sits beyond what the public purse can finance. The machines, power connection, cooling and fibre exceed a ministry vote, and they work only if the rest of the system arrives with them.
Government should, therefore, turn existing studies into a co-ordinated 10–15-year National Compute and Data Centre Infrastructure Programme. Computational capacity should be treated as productive national infrastructure. Because the state cannot underwrite such a facility alone, the programme should be an investment framework: linking demand to power, fibre, land, finance, regulation and skills and crowding in private operators and development partners rather than waiting for the treasury to purchase an industry.
The plan should map public and private capacity and forecast demand under different growth paths. Uganda could model additional loads of 10 MW, 25 MW, 50 MW and 100 MW, planning figures, not construction targets, and reconcile them with the market study so power, fibre and land can be phased with demand. It should identify and protect compute zones with reliable power, high-capacity fibre, suitable land, security and room for expansion. They need not all sit in Kampala. As grid access determines where investment goes, the country should know which areas can support serious facilities before investors arrive.
Electricity and compute planning must be joined. Large AI sites need continuous, high-quality power and heavy cooling. Major investors can become anchor customers for new generation, transmission and storage, so new computational demand expands the electricity system rather than consuming what is already there. Uganda should insist on efficient equipment, renewable power, water-conscious cooling and reuse of waste heat where practical. A site with abundant electricity but weak fibre cannot become a serious computational hub. Power and fibre corridors should be planned together, with enough redundancy when a cable, grid connection or site fails.
Uganda must also decide which computing capacity is strategically essential. That does not mean hosting everything at home. It means knowing which government systems must remain accessible, where backups should sit, and how essential services would continue through a cyberattack, power failure or network outage.
The opportunity is larger than government hosting. Modern data centres can support cloud, cybersecurity, software, research and AI industries. Where public land, power or incentives make large projects possible, Uganda should bargain for domestic returns: Apprenticeships, university research access, technology partnerships and affordable compute for researchers and start ups. Universities cannot remain spectators; computing infrastructure should feed engineering, computer-science and research programmes. Without the engineers, network specialists, cybersecurity professionals and AI researchers able to design and run complex systems, sophisticated plant may stand here while the higher-value work stays elsewhere. The country should not become merely a place where foreign-owned machines process foreign owned intelligence.
Co-ordination should use existing institutions rather than invent another forum for meetings. NITA-U should lead a small inter-institutional mechanism bringing together finance, energy, ICT, regulators, universities and industry. Its first task is practical: Establish current capacity, map future requirements, identify candidate sites, quantify electricity and fibre needs, and prepare bankable investment cases.
GSMA modelling suggests the right digital reforms could add sh14.6 trillion in economic value and create 1.79 million jobs in Uganda by 2030. Data centres alone will not deliver those gains. An expanding digital economy still needs infrastructure that can process, store and move its information.
Uganda has built important digital foundations. Readiness will be measured by whether they can scale with future demand. The country must move from being AI-ready in principle to being infrastructure-ready in practice. Tomorrow’s test is whether it has the electricity, computing capacity, resilient data centres, fibre and skilled people to operate the intelligent economy taking shape upon them.
The writer is the director of Net Studios Africa
The opportunity is larger than government hosting. Modern data centres can support cloud, cybersecurity, software, research and AI industries. Where public land, power or incentives make large projects possible, Uganda should bargain for domestic returns: Apprenticeships, university research access, technology partnerships and affordable compute for researchers and start ups. Universities cannot remain spectators; computing infrastructure should feed engineering, computer-science and research programmes. Without the engineers, network specialists, cybersecurity professionals and AI researchers able to design and run complex systems, sophisticated plant may stand here while the higher-value work stays elsewhere. The country should not become merely a place where foreign-owned machines process foreign owned intelligence.
Co-ordination should use existing institutions rather than invent another forum for meetings. NITA-U should lead a small inter-institutional mechanism bringing together finance, energy, ICT, regulators, universities and industry. Its first task is practical: Establish current capacity, map future requirements, identify candidate sites, quantify electricity and fibre needs, and prepare bankable investment cases.
GSMA modelling suggests the right digital reforms could add sh14.6 trillion in economic value and create 1.79 million jobs in Uganda by 2030. Data centres alone will not deliver those gains. An expanding digital economy still needs infrastructure that can process, store and move its information.
Uganda has built important digital foundations. Readiness will be measured by whether they can scale with future demand. The country must move from being AI-ready in principle to being infrastructure-ready in practice. Tomorrow’s test is whether it has the electricity, computing capacity, resilient data centres, fibre and skilled people to operate the intelligent economy taking shape upon them.
The writer is the director of Net Studios Africa