Expert Insight from: Stephane Duproz | Data Center CEO/MD, 25 years leading operators in Europe & Africa | Former Chairman, European Data Center Association
The global data center industry is in a period of unprecedented expansion, with data Centers in emerging markets capital flowing from the GCC to sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia to Latin America. For investors and operators with track records in mature European and North American markets, the temptation is to transplant proven models into these emerging environments. According to one of the industry’s most experienced operators, that instinct is precisely the wrong one.
Stephane Duproz has spent 25 years leading data center operators at the managing director and CEO level across Europe and Africa. He served as chairman of the European Data Center Association and remains vice president of the Africa Data Center Association. His career arc, from the very earliest days of the commercial internet in France in 1996, through the maturation of European data center markets, to building operations from the ground up across Africa starting in 2018, gives him a uniquely comparative perspective on what works, what fails, and why.
“Trying to replicate what you did in Europe doesn’t work. You have to do it locally. It is critically important.”
The Ecosystem Gap: Why Timing Matters More Than Technology
The fundamental difference between developed and emerging data center markets is not technology; it is ecosystem maturity. In developed markets, a self-reinforcing digital ecosystem has been building for over two decades. Networks interconnect in neutral data centers, creating what Duproz describes as “magnetic digital hubs” that attract additional economic actors and generate compounding demand.
“Data centers are the homes of the internet. Private networks interconnect in independent, neutral data centers. And there they create the internet.” — Stephane Duproz
In emerging markets, this ecosystem is still being constructed. The snowball effect that generates self-sustaining demand in markets like Amsterdam, Frankfurt, or Northern Virginia has not yet materialized. This means that operators entering emerging markets face a fundamentally different commercial challenge: they must help build the ecosystem, not merely serve it.
The Cost of Capital: The Most Underappreciated Variable
Among the structural challenges of emerging markets, Duproz identifies one that is often overlooked in technical and operational discussions: the cost of capital.
“Typically when you finance a build of a data center in Europe, you would get money cheaper than if you finance the build of a data center in Africa. It can be extremely higher.” — Stephane Duproz
This is not a marginal difference. In some emerging markets, the cost of financing can be several multiples of what operators encounter in developed economies. This has cascading effects on project economics: higher hurdle rates, longer payback periods, and reduced tolerance for construction delays or occupancy ramp-up timelines. For investors evaluating emerging market data center opportunities, the financial modeling assumptions that work in London or Frankfurt may be dangerously optimistic when applied to Nairobi or Lagos.
The Telco Legacy: Carving Out Independence
A pattern Duproz encountered repeatedly in Africa, and one that has parallels in the GCC and other emerging regions, is the challenge of transforming telco-built facilities into commercially viable, independent data centers. Many existing facilities in emerging markets were originally designed and operated to serve the internal needs of their telecommunications company owners, not external customers.
“They’ve been designed and used for the requirements of their telco owners as opposed to for the requirements of external customers. The first shift has been to carve them out and create both the technical and the organizational environment to make them independent.” — Stephane Duproz
This transition is not merely technical. It requires an organizational and cultural transformation, moving from an internal service function to a customer-facing commercial operation. The behavioral shift involved is substantial and is frequently underestimated in investment projections.
Operational Excellence: The People Factor
If there is one lesson Duproz emphasizes above all others, it is the criticality of human capital. When asked what new entrants underestimate most consistently, his answer is unequivocal.
“Systematically, always the same: people. You cannot put in a business plan or in a spreadsheet the quality of a team.” — Stephane Duproz
Duproz distinguishes between competence and excellence and argues that in data center operations, competence is insufficient. Data centers are critical infrastructure where operational failures can have cascading consequences for hundreds of tenants and the communities that depend on their services.
“The data center is a critical business. You can’t be good. It’s not enough. You have to be absolutely excellent. And what makes the difference between being good and excellent is people.” — Stephane Duproz
He points to a pattern in Africa where financially sophisticated investors successfully built data centers, construction being the relatively straightforward part, only to struggle with the more complex challenge of selling capacity and operating with the excellence required to retain customers. The implication for emerging market strategies is clear: the operational team is not a budget line to be optimized; it is the primary determinant of success or failure.
Digital Sovereignty: The Freedom Paradox
The push for digital sovereignty in emerging markets, including the GCC, is a legitimate and growing strategic priority. However, Duproz cautions against approaches that prioritize government control over ecosystem freedom. He has observed cases where international powers finance data center construction in developing countries, creating facilities that appear to serve national sovereignty goals but are poorly designed, commercially unviable, and potentially compromised.
“The government has the illusion that it’s going to have a data center. But in reality, nobody wants to go in those data centers because they’re poorly designed. There is always a question about integrity of the data.” — Stephane Duproz
His broader principle is rooted in three decades of observing internet and data center development globally: the ecosystem thrives when given freedom to develop organically.
“The internet and data centers work best with freedom.”
Government Policy: From Awareness to Action
There is a meaningful gap between government recognition of digital infrastructure’s importance and the creation of environments that actually support its development. Duproz points to contrasting examples in developed markets: the Netherlands moved early to establish favorable conditions for data center development, while France announced its €30 billion digital infrastructure plan comparatively late.
In emerging markets, the challenge is more fundamental. Most governments now understand the importance of digital infrastructure, but struggle to translate that understanding into effective policy, whether through land allocation, power guarantees, regulatory clarity, or investment incentives. Some governments, Duproz observes, are actively wary of digital freedom’s potential to exceed their control, a posture he views as both counterproductive and ultimately dangerous.
The Planning Premium: Lessons for New Market Entry
Duproz’s most actionable advice for operators and investors entering emerging markets is deceptively simple: invest disproportionately in planning and design.
“Plan a lot in advance. Spend a lot of time in the design part, and it will save you quite a lot of time in the construction and operations phases.” — Stephane Duproz
In emerging markets, the probability of encountering unexpected obstacles during construction, supply chain disruptions, logistical failures, and contractor inexperience is significantly higher than in mature markets. Comprehensive upfront planning cannot eliminate these risks, but it can substantially reduce their impact on timelines and budgets. The same principle extends to operational planning: designing maintenance procedures, failure response protocols, and efficiency optimization programs during the design phase rather than improvising them post-launch.
Critically, Duproz warns against treating any region as monolithic. Africa is not a country; it is 54 countries, each with distinct operating environments, regulatory frameworks, and cultural dynamics. The same principle applies to the GCC, where the business environments of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman each present unique considerations for data center deployment and operation.
About the Expert
Stephane Duproz has spent 25 years leading data center operators at the managing director and CEO level across Europe and Africa. He served as chairman of the European Data Center Association and is vice president of the Africa Data Center Association. His career began in the internet sector in France in 1996 and has encompassed the full arc of data center industry development, from the earliest commercial hosting operations to modern hyperscale and AI-ready facilities. He currently provides advisory services to investors and operators in data center infrastructure and digital technology.
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This article is based on an expert consultation conducted through the Infoquest expert network. Organizations planning data center investments in emerging markets, from operational due diligence to market entry strategy, can access direct consultations with experts like Stephane Duproz through Infoquest.
