MTN Nigeria’s new data centre is expected to come online before the end of the current quarter, according to Yahaya Ibrahim, the telco’s chief technical officer.
“Our new data centre is almost complete and is scheduled to go live this quarter. It is part of our broader strategy to strengthen infrastructure and support the continued growth of ICT services across the country,” Ibrahim told BusinessDay in an interview.
In June 2024, MTN Nigeria announced the construction of a 1,500-rack, Tier 4 data centre to meet growing data demands. This development followed a similar move by Airtel in March 2024, when it broke ground on its first data centre in Lagos.
Since 2019, average monthly internet usage has surged by 685.69 percent from 125,149.86 terabytes (TB) in December 2019 to 983,283.43 TB in April 2025, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
This surge has been driven largely by increasing demand for streaming services and other digital activities. To meet this demand, MTN Nigeria and Airtel, who together control 86.35 percent of the country’s mobile subscriber base, have ramped up investments in data centre infrastructure.
These align with efforts by operators such as Equinix, RackCentre, and Open Access Data Centres (OADC), who have announced expansion plans, with commitments exceeding $630 million.
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“With sufficient headroom, we can cater to growth and sudden demand rise, ensuring a seamless experience for our subscribers,” said Mohammed Rufai, former chief technical officer at MTN Nigeria and now CEO of MTN Congo-Brazzaville.
Data centres play a critical role in digital economies, enabling the secure storage, processing, and management of data. They also help localise content from global platforms like Meta and Google, providing resilience against disruptions, such as the major internet outage in West Africa earlier in 2024 caused by undersea cable breaks.
Despite ongoing investments, gaps remain. “We need more data centres in the country. It is not just about keeping up with data growth, it is also about ensuring geographical redundancy,” Ibrahim of MTN noted.
Lagos currently hosts 13 of Nigeria’s 16 operational data centres, ranking third in Africa after Johannesburg (31) and Nairobi (15). “Most data centres are concentrated in Lagos, largely because that is where submarine cables land,” said Ibrahim.
According to Arizton Advisory & Intelligence, Nigeria’s 16 operational data centres (including colocation facilities) are valued at $278 million in 2024, with a combined load capacity of 136.7MW. By 2030, the market is projected to grow to $671 million with a load capacity of 279.4 MW.
However, with only 16 operational data centres, representing about eight percent of Africa’s 198 facilities, Nigeria accounts for just one percent of global data centre capacity.
“We do not have enough data centres,” said Ayotunde Coker, managing director, OADC. “We must build numerous data centres to bring data storage and processing closer to Africa, driving consumption and transforming lives and businesses.”
