MTN Nears Launch of a New Data Centre

MTN Nigeria is gearing up to activate its new data centre before the end of the current quarter, as confirmed by the company’s Chief Technical Officer, Yahaya Ibrahim. Speaking in an interview, Ibrahim said the facility, which was announced in June 2024, forms part of the telco’s broader move to strengthen digital infrastructure across Nigeria.

The 1,500-rack Tier 4 data centre is MTN’s latest attempt to respond to the nation’s rapidly growing appetite for data. According to figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), average monthly internet use in Nigeria has grown by a staggering 685.69 percent since December 2019 — rising from 125,149.86 terabytes to 983,283.43 terabytes in April 2025. This surge is largely fuelled by the popularity of streaming services and the rise of other digital platforms.

Telecoms giants like MTN and Airtel, who together dominate 86.35 percent of Nigeria’s mobile market, are racing to stay ahead. Airtel also recently began work on its own data centre in Lagos. Meanwhile, international players such as Equinix, RackCentre, and Open Access Data Centres (OADC) have pledged over $630 million towards expanding digital infrastructure in the country.

Nigeria’s Data Race and the Lagos Bottleneck

Despite these efforts, there’s growing concern about whether Nigeria is building fast enough. Yahaya Ibrahim noted, “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.” Presently, Lagos is home to 13 of Nigeria’s 16 operational data centres, making it the third-highest in Africa behind Johannesburg and Nairobi. Most of these centres are located in Lagos because of the landing points of undersea cables.h

Mohammed Rufai, former CTO of MTN Nigeria and now CEO of MTN Congo-Brazzaville, pointed out the long-term value of such infrastructure, stating, “With sufficient headroom, we can cater to growth and sudden demand rise, ensuring a seamless experience for our subscribers.” Beyond just scaling services, data centres help secure, process, and localise digital content from global players like Google and Meta — a key factor in cushioning against major disruptions like the cable breaks that affected West Africa in early 2024.

Currently, Nigeria’s 16 operational centres have a combined market value of $278 million and a load capacity of 136.7MW, according to Arizton Advisory & Intelligence. However, by 2030, the sector is projected to more than double, reaching $671 million and a load capacity of 279.4MW. Yet, this still leaves Nigeria with just one percent of the world’s data centre capacity.

Ayotunde Coker, managing director of OADC, stressed the urgency of expanding this footprint. “We do not have enough data centres… We must build numerous data centres to bring data storage and processing closer to Africa, driving consumption and transforming lives and businesses,” he said.