MainOne, an Equinix company, has announced the availability and launch of its Lekki II Data Center in Nigeria on 8 April 2022. This comes not so long after MainOne was acquired by Equinix, Inc., a digital infrastructure company listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, for $320 million.
Several dignitaries were present at the launch and tour of the data center including Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; the Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Adeolu Akande who represented the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami; the Commissioner Science and Technology for Lagos State Mr. Hakeem Fahm, Government dignitaries, Equinix Management and Corporate Executives from Nigeria and Ghana.
“We are delighted to be expanding our Lekki Campus today to increase capacity in our region. Indeed, having a parent company that is the world’s digital company choose to enter Africa through the acquisition of MainOne is a bold statement. Equinix recognizes that Lagos has the potential to become the digital infrastructure hub for Africa and we are delighted that through this acquisition Equinix will extend its network of 240 data centers in 66 markets to Lagos. Our plans include further expansion to the Lekki Campus to accommodate the requirements of global hyperscalers and regional businesses as we expand to connect the over 10,000 companies already on the Equinix platform. These businesses will now have access to our region and local businesses will come onboard to interconnect with them.," said Funke Opeke, CEO of MainOne.
Data centers in Afrika
At the end of the first quarter of 2022, Afrika had a total of 97 colocation data centers as per iAfrikan Insights data. That's an impressive growth from 2021's 69 colocation data centers across the continent.
Interestingly, 11 of these are in Nigeria and the West Afrikan country is soon to add the 12th data center as soon as Kasi concludes the construction of its $250 million data center in Lekki.
Despite this growth in data centers, we still need many more colocation data centers across Afrika. This is true when you consider that there are some countries with no data centers at all and yet are looking at the promise of economic growth from the digital economy.
Lekki II data center
The newly opened Lekki II Data Center by MainOne offers open access connectivity to all the leading telecommunications networks in Nigeria with an established presence on the Lekki campus. The company has said that customers will enjoy access to an ecosystem of telecommunications operators, global networks, financial services companies, and content providers not just in Nigeria, but across West Afrika.
“Lagos is already on the map as the leading destination for technology companies on the Afrikan continent. Lagos is the commercial nerve center of the country and we will continue to create an enabling environment for businesses to flourish by ensuring our policies support investment and create opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. We can see that Equinix is now poised not only to be the biggest digital infrastructure player in Nigeria but in Afrika, and we welcome Equinix to the heartbeat of the country, the Centre of Excellence, the largest economy in Afrika and the technology transformation hub of Afrika," said Sanwo-Olu.
— By Tefo Mohapi
