President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema inaugurated yesterday Gabon’s first-ever data center at the Nkok Special Economic Zone, a landmark project developed by ST Digital Data Center Services. The event also featured the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Digital Economy and ST Digital, aimed at empowering Gabonese startups.

This strategic move is designed to bolster local data hosting, enhance cybersecurity, and accelerate the country’s digital transformation. Built to international Tier III standards, the facility will expand national storage capacities, support cloud computing initiatives, and serve both public and private sectors while strengthening Gabon’s digital autonomy. Through this initiative, the Head of State reaffirms his commitment to positioning Gabon as a leader in digital sovereignty.

The partnership includes exclusive benefits for young innovators in the tech ecosystem. Selected startups will receive dedicated virtual machines, 120 GB of SSD storage, 8 GB RAM, four virtual processors, a public IP address, SSL certificates, technical support, and preferential pricing.

The Ministry will oversee beneficiary selection, promote local hosting solutions, and conduct cybersecurity awareness campaigns. According to Laïka Mba, CEO of ST Digital, “having a national data center is a technological milestone, but it’s also a sovereign act.” She emphasized that this infrastructure ensures “state secrets, public archives, citizen data, and critical services no longer rely on foreign systems.”

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ST Digital will provide robust security protocols and technical guidance throughout the collaboration. This public-private venture aims to foster homegrown digital solutions, create job opportunities, attract investments, and cultivate an innovation-friendly environment in Gabon.