The Federal Government is set to launch a state-of-the-art data centre capable of storing up to 1.4 petabytes of data before 29 May 2024. According to a statement seen by Technext, the data centre will house a comprehensive range of critical national information, including citizens’ bio-data.
The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo made this announcement during a meeting with the delegation of the National Union of Nigerian Associations in Italy (NUNAI) led by its President, Chief Rowland Ndukuba at his office in Abuja on Monday, 20 May 2024.
Emphasising the importance of embracing technology and innovation, the Minister stressed that modern challenges require novel, cutting-edge technological solutions. He added that integrating advanced technology would enhance efficiency and accountability across national operations.
In response, the President of NUNAI, Chief Rowland Ndukuba, expressed gratitude for the Ministry’s efforts in addressing the challenges faced by Nigerians in Italy. He urged the Minister and the Ministry to continue collaborative efforts to assist stranded Nigerians in Italy.
Data Centre race in Nigeria
This is a good development as Nigeria is racing behind South Africa in the Data Centre race in Africa.
A report by Reportlinker.com titled “Africa Data Center Construction Market – Industry Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028”, indicates that South Africa contributes over 50% of the continent’s capacity, with Nigeria coming second and Kenya coming third.
The African data centre construction market has seen incremental growth in recent years as major international players have invested in the deployment of new submarine cables for broadband connectivity. These include the Africa-1, 2Africa, India Europe Xpress (IEX), Equiano, and Medusa Submarine Cable System SeaMeWe – 6.
The continent’s major global cloud service investors include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Huawei Technologies.
Recall that in 2022 Google brought the Equiano mega subsea cable to Lagos, Nigeria, a month after its first African landing in Togo with support from some partners: the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) and an investor (the Eastern African Submarine System (EASSy) submarine cable).
Read more: All you need to know about Google’s 144 terabit-per-second capacity subsea cable, Equiano
So far, the growth of Nigeria’s data centre market is traceable to its recent focus on digitisation and the incorporation of emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and advanced network connectivity services.
As of November 2023, there are over 11 data centres in Nigeria. These are located largely in Lagos, then Abuja and Kano.
These include the Open Access Data Centre (OADC) by WIOCC Group Company, Rack Centre, MDXi (MainOne, an Equinix Company), Medallion (Digital Reality), 21st Century; ADC, MTN, CEWA, Galaxy BackBone and mobile, among others.
Congo is also building its national Data Centre
Recall that the Republic of the Congo, yesterday, unveiled a yet-to-be-completed three-storey building in Brazzaville’s Bacongo district of the Congolese capital, which will house the country’s National Data Centre. Financed by the African Development Bank, the data centre will be used to store and process the country’s digital data and its citizens.
According to a statement shared with Technext, the project will include the construction of 600 kilometres of fibre optic cable on the major interconnecting routes with Cameroon (341 km) and the Central African Republic (281 km) via the Congo River.
The fibre project will cost a total of €66.55 million ($72 million). Of this sum, a total of €52.47 million ($56 million) will be contributed by the African Development Bank and the balance of €14.50 million ($15 million) by the government of Congo. Of the total, a sum of €13.8 million ($14.6 million) has been allocated to build and run the data centre.
The three-storey building will have server rooms, monitoring and supervision rooms, and meeting and conference rooms, as well as locations for the energy and air-conditioning equipment the centre needs to function correctly, which should be delivered by December 2024
Once finished, the data centre will be managed by a delegate (public or private), who will be responsible for marketing and infrastructure maintenance.
Similar: Nigeria to create SPV to power 90,000km broadband fibre rollout
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