Lagos, March 13, 2024 – Dr Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has extoled the revolutionary opportunities inherent in investment in digital economy.
The minister made the appeal in Lagos on Tuesday at the groundbreaking ceremony of NXTra Data Center project of Airtel Africa in Nigeria.
He said revolutionary opportunities abound for business and the economy in a future driven by connectivity via data centers such as NXtra and powered by technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“Data is a key driver in our economy. Not only do we need to connect our people, we also must invest in the digital economy, and through the investment that companies like Airtel have made in our economy, we are fully able to participate in the digital economy,” the minister said.
Segun Ogunsanya, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, said the project would provide over 1000 jobs for Nigerians out of which 250 will be permanent ones.
He said the Nxtra project marked a significant milestone in the company’s journey and is a cornerstone of the organization’s growth strategy, with a particular focus on Nigeria, its largest market.
Ogunsanya said the project would enhance data sovereignty, security, and preservation within the continent.
He said the data center reflected the group’s commitment to make Nigeria a major hub for access to digital services as it propels Africa towards a sustainable and inclusive digital age.
“This mega project will provide over 1000 jobs. More significantly, once deployed and at capacity, it will create over 250 permanent jobs for Nigerians, whilst supporting companies in manufacturing, financial services, and health care as they move their data and computing into third-party data centers like ours.
“Ultimately, we have to store data and content closer to where it is being consumed,” Ogunsanya said.
The Nxtra by Airtel data center in Lagos will deliver 38 megawatts of total power and host high-density racks that integrate the latest best practice construction to achieve 1.3 power usage effectiveness (PUE). It is expected to be live by the first quarter of 2026.
The facility will be the first of five hyperscale data centres to be developed by Airtel Africa on the continent.
Combined, these data centres will offer a robust 180-megawatt capacity, distributed across 13 major data centre and over 48 edge data centres.
Nxtra offers secure and scalable integrated solutions to global hyper-scalers, large African enterprises, startups, SMEs and governments. (GBN)
