The News
- Africa’s digital infrastructure is set to witness more growth as Airtel Africa launches Nxtra, a data centre business aimed at meeting the continent’s growing digital economy and providing sustainable data centre capacity. This news comes a year after the telco launched a data centre in Lagos.
- The facility, designed to host high-density racks and integrate the latest practice construction to achieve a 1.3 power usage effectiveness (PUE), is expected to go live in mid-2025 and will deliver 34 megawatts of total power, making it the first Nxtra facility in Lagos, Nigeria.
- The telco, through Nxtra, aims to build one of the largest networks of data centres in Africa with high-capacity data centres in major cities within its reach.
Per the Managing Director, Segun Ogunsanya, “A rapid increase in data centre capacity is needed to support the growth potential of Africa's economy. We’re proud to drive the future of Africa’s digital infrastructure, unlocking opportunities for businesses to grow and fuelling economic prosperity.”
He added that the service provider company has demonstrated the capacity to deliver infrastructure projects across Africa and expressed confidence that the development will bolster partnerships with some of Africa’s newest tech unicorns.
Although cloud computing has witnessed rapid growth in Nigeria, shortage of infrastructure has been a major hurdle. However, with the introduction of Nxtra, more local cloud services will be available in Airtel Africa's operating countries.
Furthermore, these facilities are said to meet stringent global security requirements and achieve “five nines” availability to reduce hacking, a hindrance to cloud services.
However, this new development complements the existing efforts of other telco companies like MainOne, which launched a series of data centre facilities in 2021 through its subsidiary, MDXI, in Lagos, Nigeria, to enhance digital growth.
Meanwhile, Yahsnath Issur, the former head of Global Data Center Portfolio at Amazon Web Services, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Nxtra by Airtel. With over 16 years of experience, Issur has built a team of experts to execute the strategy.
