The Ivory Coast is looking to construct its first state-owned data center. As reported by Bloomberg , the data center is planned to open next year and is receiving financial backing from the US Export-Import Bank.

The data center is being developed by Washington-based Cybastion Institute of Technology LLC, and has an estimated cost of $66 million. This is part of a larger financing package offered by the US Export-Import Bank to the Ivory Coast, which was announced in September 2025.

The data center itself will offer 1.73MW of IT capacity (3MW total power capacity), with 228 racks and 10 petabytes of storage.

It is hoped to help the Ivory Coast to modernize its public services and strengthen cybersecurity and data sovereignty. The data center will also offer cloud hosting, colocation, and connectivity services for government organizations. Cybastion is also behind a 20MW data center project in Gabon and has worked with the Liberian government on a data center and subsea cable project. The company also recently announced plans for a $75 million data center in Cameroon.

The Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) currently has a small private data center market, with a handful of data centers located in Abidjan. Operators include Equinix, Raxio , ST Digital , Paix Data Centres, and Stellarix.

The country is undergoing digitization efforts. Shortly before EXIM granted $66m to the data center project, the Bank agreed to provide $47m to enable the digitalization of Côte d'Ivoire’s Ministry of Finance and Industry. This effort is also being led by Cybastion, with help from prospective suppliers such as Cisco, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Motorola Solutions, and Microsoft.

Earlier this month, Cybastion and THEYA Foundation joined Ivorian officials at Lycée Technique d’Abidjan for the launch of the Africa DigiEmpower program that seeks to train people in the Ivory Coast in digital skills.

Why Washington Is Financing the Project

EXIM’s support connects infrastructure finance with a direct US effort to compete for strategic technology projects in Africa.

EXIM is the US government’s official export credit agency. It provides tools such as loan guarantees when commercial financing alone cannot secure an American export sale.

Its board minutes identify Cybastion as the exporter and approve the $66.1 million transaction. The minutes also record unanimous support from the participating board members.

The center was the first data-center project supported by EXIM in sub-Saharan Africa. That gives the transaction importance beyond its physical size.

The agency’s 2025 annual report places it within the China and Transformational Exports Program, or CTEP. Congress created that program to help US exporters compete with Chinese companies in selected strategic sectors.

EXIM’s involvement is consequently not neutral development finance. It aims to place American vendors, standards, and systems inside infrastructure that may shape Ivory Coast’s digital government for years.

The national center was one of two Ivorian technology transactions approved in August 2025. EXIM also authorized $47.1 million for a separate government digitalization project.

That second transaction involved the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Prospective suppliers included Cisco, Amazon Web Services, Motorola Solutions, and Microsoft.

Together, the two approvals reached $113.2 million. They combined physical infrastructure with software, communications, cloud services, and administrative modernization.

The US-backed model also reflects a change in how development partnerships are framed. Roads, ports, and power systems remain important, but data infrastructure now carries similar strategic weight.

Government information can affect tax collection, business registration, customs, health services, education, identity management, and public payments. The systems hosting that information become part of national administration.