Supermicro Inc., a global leader in application-optimised total IT, has appointed Exclusive Networks Africa as a distributor for the African region. This partnership is aimed at expanding Supermicro’s footprint across the continent, leveraging Exclusive Networks Africa’s extensive regional presence to meet growing market demands.

Africa represents a significant growth opportunity for Supermicro, according to Wynand Möller, Regional Manager – Sub-Saharan Africa at Supermicro. “The African market is marked by its rapid adoption of cutting-edge technology, largely due to a reduced dependence on legacy infrastructure. Exclusive Networks Africa’s strong presence across East and West Africa, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Indian Ocean Islands makes it an ideal partner to drive our growth ambitions.” 

Supermicro’s distribution model is built on close collaboration with select distributors, enabling seamless support throughout the value chain, from reseller partners through to C-level end-user decision-makers. “In a vast and diverse market like Africa, having a partner with the pedigree of Exclusive Networks Africa is critical. The company’s precision focus on security and data centre technologies aligns perfectly with our emphasis on next-generation solutions,” Möller states.

At the core of this collaboration is a shared commitment to advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Supermicro’s advanced graphical process unit (GPU) solutions, which power many of the world’s leading supercomputing clusters, will play a pivotal role in this partnership. These GPU-driven innovations are designed to deliver robust, scalable and flexible infrastructure for AI acceleration, helping enterprises unlock new possibilities in AI deployment and data centre operations.

“As the world’s third largest supplier and consumer of technology, behind only Microsoft and Meta, Supermicro’s GPU offerings play a key role in AI acceleration. This technology will form the cornerstone of the partnership with Exclusive Networks Africa, with a strong focus on GPU and data centre-related technology,” he says.

Addressing Africa’s AI infrastructure needs

Stefan van de Giessen, General Manager for Africa at Exclusive Networks Africa, highlights the increasing demand for AI-ready infrastructure across the continent. “Organisations in Africa are increasingly repatriating their digital assets - such as data, applications or entire business processes - from public cloud environments to on-premises data centres, motivated by the need for greater control, performance, security and cost-efficiency. This trend is further driven by global geopolitical uncertainties and currency fluctuations impacting cloud costs.

“Exclusive Networks Africa is thrilled to collaborate with a company like Supermicro, a leader in advanced GPU technology, thanks to the growing AI market.”

Supermicro’s focus on sustainability is another important aspect of the partnership with Exclusive Networks Africa, Van de Giessen adds. “Supermicro is a leader in designing and delivering the components that make up green computing; its products are designed for free-air cooling, liquid cooling-readiness and to reduce e-wastage. 

“Very importantly for a region like Africa though is the focus on reducing power consumption. Supermicro achieves this by sharing fans and power supplies, resulting in a more optimised operation, something that the business claims can reduce electricity use by an estimated 10%.”