As Nigeria targets a $1 trillion economy by 2030, the country will require at least 72 edge data centres—two in each state and the Federal Capital Territory—to deliver the digital capacity needed for global competitiveness.
This projection was made by the Chief Executive Officer of Digital Realty Nigeria, Ikechukwu Nnamani, during a breakfast session with technology journalists in Lagos.
Despite being Africa’s largest ICT market, more than 90 per cent of Nigeria’s data infrastructure is concentrated in Lagos, serving only about 10 per cent of the population.
Currently, operational data centre facilities are estimated at 16 to 22, with 19 located in Lagos and three in Abuja, while about 13 new projects are in the pipeline from operators like Rack Centre, MDX1, OADC, MTN, Airtel, Galaxy Backbone and Digital Realty.
Nnamani warned that this heavy concentration undermines Nigeria’s ability to achieve inclusive digital growth, noting that it is cheaper to transmit data between Lagos and London than between Lagos and Abuja, due to poor regional connectivity.
He stressed that edge data centres are essential to reduce latency and support real-time services such as fintech, e-commerce and emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI).
He added that Nigeria currently has no AI-ready data centre, a gap that could slow economic transformation as AI adoption accelerates globally.
While operators aim to deliver such facilities within three years, Nnamani explained that high construction costs—ranging from $10 million to $15 million per centre—and chronic electricity challenges remain major obstacles, with some operators investing over N100 million individually in alternative power solutions.
According to him, expanding the nation’s data centre footprint should be treated as a strategic economic priority, enabling digital sovereignty, data localisation, better service delivery, and large-scale job creation.
He called for strengthened transmission networks, increased local content creation and supportive national policies to unlock the sector’s full potential.