MTN Nigeria has unveiled the Sifiso Dabengwa Data Centre, now the largest Tier III facility in West Africa. Located in Ikeja, Lagos, this $235 million investment aims to offer locally hosted cloud infrastructure that directly competes with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
The centre is designed for high-performance workloads, AI integration, and enterprise scalability, positioning MTN as a significant cloud service provider within Africa’s evolving tech landscape.
Cloud Services Built for Nigeria, in Nigeria
Unlike foreign hyperscalers that bill in dollars, MTN’s cloud platform offers a pay-as-you-go model in Naira, reducing costs for Nigerian businesses. Users can deploy, manage, and scale resources autonomously through a self-orchestrated portal, similar to those offered by AWS and Azure.
This makes cloud computing more accessible to startups, fintechs, SMEs, and government institutions, especially as they navigate strict data sovereignty rules under NDPC and NITDA.
Tier III Certification and Modular Scalability
The facility is currently operating at 4.5 megawatts (MW) IT load and is designed to scale up to 9 MW in its next phase, with future upgrades pushing capacity toward 14–20 MW. The modular structure includes over 1,500 server racks distributed across 96 prefabricated modules, enabling rapid scaling without system downtime.
Tier III certification ensures 99.982% uptime, making it ideal for mission-critical operations like payment processing, government portals, and AI-powered platforms.
Why This Matters: Cost, Latency & Data Sovereignty
-
Latency Reduction: With servers hosted in Lagos, Nigerian users enjoy faster access to data and applications without international lag.
-
Cost Efficiency: Hosting locally avoids hefty foreign exchange charges and capital flight—addressing Nigeria’s annual cloud spend of $600–850 million.
-
Data Compliance: All data remains on Nigerian soil, ensuring full compliance with local data protection laws.
Implications for the Tech Ecosystem
| Sector | Impact |
|---|---|
| Startups/SMEs | Affordable cloud access, no FX volatility, faster deployments |
| Fintech | Secure, low-latency infrastructure for payment and data systems |
| Government | Data localization and security for public service platforms |
| AI/ML Developers | Compute-ready infrastructure for training large models and inference |
A Digital Infrastructure Revolution Begins
MTN’s Tier III data centre is more than just a building—it’s a bold leap toward cloud sovereignty, AI readiness, and economic digitisation in West Africa. As the first telecom in Nigeria to offer end-to-end cloud infrastructure with this level of certification, MTN is not just catching up—it’s leading the charge.
and then