Mombasa tech hub: Who controls Kenya’s eight new cables and Sh194bn AI data centre?

Kenya, September 15, 2026 - Mombasa is being called Kenya’s next tech hub, and the plans behind that label are already taking shape. At least eight undersea internet cables are landing or planned along the coast, while a Greek company, Amaco Energy Group, is proposing a Sh194 billion AI data centre in the city. The facility is designed to run on its own offshore gas power system, separate from Kenya’s national grid.

Most stories focus on investment, jobs, and faster internet. They skip the bigger question: who really controls all this, and what does that mean for Kenya’s digital future?

Kenya already sends more than 95% of its international internet traffic through Mombasa, which makes the coast the country’s main digital gateway. New cables like LuLu (Mombasa–Lamu), PEACE, and 2Africa are adding more capacity and backup routes. But the places where these cables come ashore are not just technical sites. They are strategic points of control that decide who sets wholesale internet prices, who chooses which cable to repair first when there is a cut, and who keeps most of the money when traffic grows.

Many of these cables are owned by groups of companies or foreign investors, and the landing stations are often run by telecom firms or private operators rather than the government. The new LuLu cable, for example, is owned by a Mauritius-based company, with Kenyan partners acting as local operators. If Kenya remains a small player in this system, the country risks becoming a passage for data rather than a hub that truly benefits its own people.

AI data centres use huge amounts of power, often as much as a small town. Kenya’s total power capacity is about 3,000MW, and the grid already struggles at peak times. To avoid overloading the system, Amaco plans to power the data centre from an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant called HERCULES, which will generate electricity and cooling directly for the facility.

That protects Kenya Power in the short term, but it also creates a high-value tech zone that runs on its own fuel, its own rules, and its own timeline. Over time, that can mean a rich digital enclave on Kenyan soil that contributes less to national control than its size suggests. A foreign-owned site that does not depend on the national grid has less reason to align with local priorities on pricing, jobs, or skills.

A real tech hub is more than cables and buildings. It is about who owns the systems, who earns when traffic and computing demand rise, who decides where data is stored and how it moves, and who fixes things when they break. Mombasa now has the physical pieces of a hub. Without clear rules on local ownership, training, data protection, and power, the result could be a high-tech corridor that looks Kenyan but works for foreign investors first.

A Sh194 billion AI data centre can be a national asset or a foreign-controlled node. The difference is in the deal. If Amaco or another foreign investor owns the facility, powers it alone, and sets the terms, Kenya may get some jobs and tax money, but little real control.

If the government or local firms negotiate for a share of ownership, rules on where data must be kept, and training for Kenyan engineers, the project can become part of a wider plan to build Kenya’s digital economy. So far, the public details describe a self-contained energy and computing enclave: offshore gas power, independent cooling, AI-ready capacity, and little reliance on the national grid. That is good for the investor. It is unclear for Kenya’s long-term control.

The key question is not whether Mombasa will become a tech hub. It is whether Kenya will treat these cables and data centres like national infrastructure, with rules and local stakes, or like any other foreign investment.