Master Power Technologies (MPT), a pan-African provider of data centre and critical power solutions, has opened a R50 million ($3 million) Customer Experience Centre in Midrand, a facility that will also serve as the company’s new regional headquarters.

The investment reflects growing demand for data centre infrastructure across Africa as businesses, governments and technology providers expand their digital capabilities.

Founded in 1999 by electrical engineer Menno Parsons, MPT has evolved from a supplier of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems into a diversified engineering company delivering end-to-end data centre solutions across Africa and the Middle East.

The new 6,000-square-metre facility, located between Johannesburg and Pretoria, will house about 200 employees and provide easier access to major data centre clusters in South Africa.

Testing, training and engineering under one roof

The Customer Experience Centre has been designed as a demonstration, testing and training hub where customers, partners and engineers can interact directly with MPT’s technologies.

Among its key features are a 2 MVA UPS testing platform and a 400-kW cooling system testing facility. According to the company, the centre is the most comprehensive facility of its kind in Africa, allowing equipment to be tested against European certification standards before deployment.

The facility also supports hands-on training programs aimed at helping customers and engineers improve operational performance and reliability within data centre environments.

“The Experience Centre represents a new chapter for Master Power Technologies,” said Menno Parsons, founder and managing director of MPT. “It’s about creating a space where customers can engage with our technology, see it in operation and gain a deeper understanding of our engineering capabilities.”

Parsons said the facility would provide practical exposure to UPS and cooling technologies, allowing clients to work directly with operating systems in a controlled environment.

Local engineering for African conditions

MPT designs, manufactures and assembles products under its SURE and AIVA brands, with solutions developed to meet the operational demands of African markets.

The company also engineers modular data centre and energy centre solutions locally, a strategy it says helps reduce supply chain challenges while ensuring systems are tailored to regional requirements.

The Midrand centre incorporates MPT’s Advanced Infrastructure Visual Analytics (AIVA) platform, which monitors and records performance data across more than 200 data centres on the continent. The platform provides operators with analytics and insights aimed at improving efficiency and system reliability.

“We engineer solutions for Africa, by Africa,” Parsons said. “This facility strengthens our ability to train, innovate and deliver infrastructure that meets global standards while drawing on local expertise.”

MPT scaling across the continent

Expanding Across Africa Over the past 25 years, MPT has completed more than 150 data centre projects in over 20 countries and employs more than 300 people across Africa.

The company specializes in power, cooling, monitoring and data centre infrastructure designed to address challenges common across the continent, including high temperatures, water scarcity and increasing demand for energy-efficient operations.

In 2025, MPT became the first African data centre builder to be certified as an Endorser of the European Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centres.

The certification recognizes organizations that support internationally recognized energy-efficiency practices and reinforces MPT’s focus on sustainable data centre development as demand for digital infrastructure continues to grow across Africa.

As the Managing Director of Master Power Technologies (MPT), Menno drives the company’s strategy with a focus on innovation, advanced technology and product quality. Since founding the firm in 1999, he has built it into a market leader in the supply, installation and after-sales support of backup power systems for time-critical environments, as well as in the design and management of modular data centre solutions.