Africa Data Centres, the carrier-neutral data centre company in the Liquid Intelligent Technologies stable, has announced plans to build a 10MW facility in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos.

The company, which already operates data centres in South Africa and Kenya, said construction on the new facility has already started.

The Nigerian data centre will form Africa Data Centres’ West African hub, the company said on Tuesday. It will add to its network of data centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, Harare and Kigali.

CEO Stephane Duproz said its clients, including so-called “hyperscale” cloud computing providers, have expressed their interest in utilising a data centre facility in Nigeria.

News of Africa Data Centres’ Nigerian plans comes after the company last year acquired Standard Bank’s data centre in Samrand, north Johannesburg. It is also expanding its nearby facility in Midrand.

Economy

Duproz said the Lagos build will help spur the Nigerian economy. “The stimulus effect to the economy of digitisation is well documented and Nigeria is ready for this technology boon. Furthermore, our construction policy is to uplift the community as far as possible, employing local contractors and creating work opportunities within the communities we enter – so the job creation opportunities are realised at both grass-roots and hi-tech levels.”

Africa Data Centres will use grey (non-potable) water for cooling in the Lagos data centre. It will also use solar energy to offset its reliance on the grid. (Nigeria’s electricity supply is notoriously unreliable.) — © 2021 NewsCentral Media