With only about 30 megawatts of data centre capacity overall—much less than the anticipated 600 megawatts needed—Nigeria currently lacks the Infrastructure necessary to sustain its expanding digital economy. Only 11 data centres are currently in operation nationwide, primarily in Lagos, Abuja, and Kano, despite rising investments. Large computer companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and HP have been unable to grow their cloud operations locally due to this deficiency, which has forced companies to rely on offshore hosting. Nigerian data centres aren’t large enough or connected enough to draw in big digital companies, according to Gbenga Adegbiji, CEO of Geniserve.
Building data centres is not enough, he continued; in order for them to work well, they must be situated next to reliable communication infrastructure. Although companies like Rack Centre, MDXi, and Africa Data Centres presently dominate the industry, banks and enterprises still face a lack of local options, with many employing overseas cloud services to host vital applications. In order to solve this problem, Adegbiji underlined the necessity of building bigger, top-notch data centres that can sustain Nigeria’s Digital Economy and draw in big international corporations.
Power networks that are unstable cause frequent outages.
Although some foreign businesses do operate in Nigeria, he noted that their presence is insufficient to bring about a meaningful digital change. Africa has less than 1% of the world’s data centre capacity, but having 18% of the world’s population. With roughly 100 data centres, South Africa has the most on the continent. Together, they have a computing capacity of about 200 megawatts (MW), which is equivalent to that of Switzerland, a nation with a population that is seven times smaller. Nigeria’s data centre capacity, on the other hand, is only about 30 MW, which is far less than the 600 MW that is thought to be needed to meet present demand.
In order to support its growing digital economy, Nigeria urgently needs to improve its data centre infrastructure, as this disparity highlights. Nigeria’s Construction of massive data centres is hampered by a number of financial and regulatory issues. Power networks that are unstable and rely heavily on coal cause frequent outages, making costly on-site backup generators necessary to keep operations running around-the-clock. The problem is further made worse by the high operating costs and a lack of available competent labour. Regulatory ambiguities also discourage potential investors, especially when it comes to Data Sovereignty and cloud adoption. The expansion of Nigeria’s data centre sector is hampered by these concerns taken together.
FG plans to digitalise the country by 2030 with programs like NDEPS.
Importantly, Nigerian data centre infrastructure is desperately needed, according to industry leaders. Because there aren’t enough data centres, big tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and HP can’t grow their cloud operations locally, so they have to rely on offshore hosting, said Gbenga Adegbiji. The Nigerian government has acknowledged this disparity and plans to digitalise the country by 2030 with programs like the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS). This strategy addresses both infrastructure and regulatory issues, demonstrating the government’s dedication to fostering an environment that encourages data centre development.
A number of initiatives have been put in place by the Nigerian government to entice investments in data centre infrastructure. A strategy framework for the construction of data centres is provided by the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), which seeks to digitalise Nigeria by 2030. The government is also encouraging private-public cooperation and providing incentives to Investors in the ICT industry. In order to encourage local and foreign stakeholders to take part in increasing Nigeria’s data centre capacity, these initiatives aim to establish a favourable Investment climate.
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Nigeria’s lack of data centres has a significant impact on customers, companies, and the economy as a whole. Businesses are forced to use foreign servers to host vital applications, which raises operating expenses and may raise data sovereignty concerns. The physical distance from data sources results in increased latency and worse service quality for consumers. Economically speaking, the dependence on foreign data centres causes capital flight and impedes the expansion of the domestic ICT industry.