Nigeria lacks sufficient data centres to support its growing digital economy, with the country’s total data centre capacity far below demand, Gbenga Adegbiji, Chief Executive Officer of Geniserve, said in an interview with The PUNCH.
Despite increasing investments in infrastructure, Nigeria currently has around 11 operational data centres, concentrated in major cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Kano.
The country’s total data centre capacity stands at approximately 30 megawatts—far below the estimated 600 megawatts required to meet demand, according to industry estimates.
The telecom executive said this shortfall is preventing major technology firms such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and HP from expanding their cloud operations in Nigeria, forcing businesses to rely on offshore hosting.
He explained, “Many people assume that because we built data centre capacity years ago, we should have enough by now. However, the reason we don’t see as many customers using local data centres is that we lack the scale they require.
“For example, we don’t have the capacity that companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and HP need for their cloud services. These global firms require significant infrastructure, and currently, Nigeria does not have enough data centres to support them.
“We need to build more data centres, and they must be strategically located near strong connectivity infrastructure. Without proper connectivity, a data centre is just a warehouse—it needs to be linked to a robust network to function effectively.”
Nigeria’s data centre market is currently driven by providers such as Rack Centre, MDXi, and Africa Data Centres.
However, Adegbigi noted that despite increased investments, businesses and banks still struggle with limited local options.
“Today, you still have companies hosting critical applications in the cloud, but that cloud is outside Lagos, outside Nigeria,” he said.
Adegbiji emphasised that for Nigeria’s data centre industry to grow, new facilities must be built near strong connectivity infrastructure. “Without connectivity, data centres are just warehouses,” he said.
“Right now, many businesses, including banks, still run their applications on private servers or colocate in existing data centres,” the executive said. “Despite more than a decade of growth in Nigeria’s data centre industry, companies continue to host critical services on cloud platforms outside Lagos and even outside Nigeria.”
To change this trend, he said Nigeria needs to build larger, world-class data centres that can draw major players such as Microsoft and support the country’s digital economy.
“While some global firms have a presence here, it’s not at the scale required to truly support Nigeria’s digital economy,” he added.