Nigeria is entering the hyperscale era with two new data centres.

Following MTN’s decision to build a US$240 million data centre in Ikeja, Lago, Airtel Nigeria says it is building a 38 MW data centre in Lagos, in response to demand for connectivity and data.

‘We don’t want to start small. We are building at the hyperscale level, designed for the new server loads that modern infrastructure demands,’ said Ogo Ofomata, Airtel business director.

The Airtel data centre –  being built with artificial intelligence computing requirements in mind – will house GPU (graphic processing unit) servers, which require more power and cooling than traditional CPU-based (central processing unit) systems.

‘Just take GPU servers, they’re ten times the size of CPU servers and deliver a hundred times the performance,’ said Dinesh Balsingh, CEO of Airtel Nigeria.

The MTN facility is set to become Nigeria’s largest pre-fabricated modular data centre, with 96 containerised modules and 1 500 racks.

12 August 2025
Image: Freepik