Equinix Bets on Collaboration After MainOne Deal

Eight months after wrapping up its $320 million acquisition of MainOne, global digital infrastructure company Equinix has broken its silence on how it plans to play in Nigeria. The message? Enable, not compete. At a recent industry meeting held on June 20, 2025, the company’s leadership shared its intentions with telecom stakeholders, startups, and policymakers in Lagos.

“We’re not here to compete; we want to be an enabler in the market,” said Brenden Rawle, Equinix’s Senior Director of Business Development for EMEA. It’s a bold positioning in a region where data infrastructure is still fragmented and often fiercely defended.

Echoing that sentiment, Wole Abu, Managing Director of Equinix West Africa, added: “We create a platform for everyone to thrive. So while we have local routes, we now have global connections.”

Equinix Fabric and the Push for Infrastructure Integration

The backbone of this inclusive vision is Equinix Fabric—a proprietary interconnection tool already active in 63 cities. It allows businesses to link data centres, clouds, and digital partners directly and securely, bypassing traditional public internet routing. In May 2025, Equinix Fabric launched in South Africa, with Lagos slated to join the network by H1 2026.

“Equinix Fabric is one of my favourite tools,” said Oluwasayo Oshadami, Director of Solutions Architecture at Equinix. “You spin up connections when you need them and spin them down when you don’t. It’s efficient, cost-effective, and global.”

Beyond the software, Equinix is investing heavily in hard infrastructure. It’s upgrading former MainOne facilities and building new ones, including LG3, LG4, and LG5 in Lagos. LG3 is already under development 25 kilometres from the company’s current site, and LG4 is expected to be its largest yet when it launches in 2027.

The company has spent over $500 million across Africa, with operations in South Africa, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria. The scale of these investments shows Equinix’s intent to become a central node in Africa’s data ecosystem—without ruffling feathers.

Challenges in Power, Policy, and Perception

Still, Africa’s digital dream has obstacles. While user demand grows, infrastructure gaps, inconsistent policies, and power supply issues slow things down. Equinix isn’t ignoring these challenges. Instead, it’s leaning into government partnerships to help leaders understand what the future of tech really needs—especially when it comes to AI infrastructure.

“Many governments want to be AI hubs, but they underestimate the infrastructure it requires,” said Rawle. “We help them understand what’s needed—particularly power capacity.”

Equinix’s community-first approach is also a playbook for trust. It believes its success depends on enabling local businesses, not overtaking them. As Rawle put it, “We are a global company, but we must act locally. The access to local consumers and enterprises is what draws the big global players to our ecosystem.”

With more than 4,000 customers globally and 64,000+ interconnections, Equinix is staking its bet on partnership-driven growth in Nigeria. The strategy seems simple, yet powerful: build bridges, not barriers.