- Nigeria’s data centre capacity is projected to grow sixfold to over 400 MW within 3–5 years, with 17 active facilities and nine more underway, positioning the country as West Africa’s leading digital hub and driving significant economic output and job creation.
- A single 1 MW Tier-III data centre investment of US$10 million generates US$17 million in construction-phase economic output and over US$39 million in cumulative returns over 10 years, alongside 700 construction jobs and sustained technical roles.
- Verraki’s report highlights opportunities in SME-focused colocation, renewable energy, edge computing, AI processing, and smart city infrastructure, while addressing bottlenecks such as power instability, fibre gaps, land acquisition challenges, and talent shortages.
New Verraki report shows Nigeria hosting 17 active data centres with nine more underway, as 1MW Tier-III builds generate US$17m in economic output and cumulative returns topping US$39m in 10 years.
Nigeria is experiencing a data centre gold rush that will transform it into West Africa’s leading digital hub, with installed capacity projected to surge from 65-86 MW today to over 400 MW within 3-5 years, according to a new report on data centre by Verraki Partners, a member of Andersen Consulting.
The report notes that Nigeria currently hosts approximately 17 active (commissioned/live) data centres, with 9 additional facilities recorded as upcoming (planned or under construction), reinforcing the scale and pace of expansion now underway.
The explosive growth represents a fundamental shift in Africa’s digital infrastructure terrain. From 2012, when Rack Centre’s LGS1 became Nigeria’s first modern carrier-neutral facility, the market has evolved from fragmented telco server rooms to hyperscale-ready campus developments.
MainOne’s MDXi Lekki facility (2015) introduced large-format Tier-III operations with 600 racks, while Africa Data Centres’ 10 MW LOS1 facility (2021) signaled the arrival of hyperscale investment confidence.
The acceleration has intensified dramatically from 2021-2025, with major expansions from Rack Centre (now scaling to 14.5 MW), MTN’s Dabengwa centre, Digital Realty, and Equinix committing $390 million across Africa over five years.
Open Access Data Centres announced $500 million for African facilities, while Airtel’s Nxtra project, the first of five planned hyperscale data centres, is expected to go live by Q1 2026.
Beyond capacity expansion, Verraki’s report highlights the broader macroeconomic upside of data-centre investments. A US$10 million Tier-III, 1MW development generates approximately US$17 million in construction-phase economic output, rising to more than US$39 million by Year 10 when OPEX and refresh CAPEX are included.
The same project creates roughly 700 direct construction jobs, sustains 20–30 full-time technical operational roles annually, and drives cumulative employment of about 1,654 positions over a decade. Annual PAYE taxes begin at an estimated US$110,000 and exceed US$1.8 million over ten years, underscoring the significant fiscal contribution of even modest-scale facilities.
Market size projections emphasizes the opportunity: Nigeria’s data centre sector, currently valued at $1.4 billion, is projected to reach $2.7 billion by 2035. This growth is fueled by explosive cloud adoption (50% of companies have adopted cloud across their operations), internet users surpassing 570 million across Africa, mobile penetration hitting 46% in sub-Saharan Africa and targeting 50% by 2025, and AI-driven demand for high-capacity computing infrastructure.
The report identifies seven high-potential opportunity areas: construction of affordable, SME-focused colocation facilities; reliable electricity provision through renewable energy and hybrid systems; edge computing infrastructure for IoT and smart cities; AI and machine learning processing capabilities; e-government digitisation partnerships; IoT device deployment and management; and smart city development as urban centers expand rapidly.
Yet bottlenecks threaten to constrain growth. Nigeria’s data centre operators face persistent power instability requiring expensive backup systems, uneven fibre distribution with heavy Lagos concentration limiting nationwide scalability, costly and complex land acquisition in commercial hubs, skilled talent shortages across engineering and cybersecurity, and foreign exchange access for importing critical components.
Verraki’s roadmap for unlocking potential includes pre-negotiated electricity tariffs and long-term PPAs for operators, expanding fibre networks through Project BRIDGE and state-level PPPs, establishing special development zones near fibre infrastructure, creating blended financing frameworks with development finance institutions, building specialised skills-building programs for data centre talent, and promoting local manufacturing of power and cooling components.
As global cloud providers search for new markets due to European overcapacity in hubs like Dublin and London, Africa’s rising data sovereignty requirements and youthful, digitally native population position Nigeria as the natural West African anchor. With 67% of Africans under 30, tech startups raising $2.7 billion in 2023, $2.6bn in 2024 and $2.65bn by November 2025, and the continent accounting for just 1% of global data centre capacity despite 17% of world population, the infrastructure gap represents both a challenge and opportunity on a massive scale.
Read full report on www.verraki.africa
