Nigeria’s data centre industry is accelerating fast, with installed capacity expected to jump from 65-86 MW today to over 400 MW within 3-5 years, a new report by Verraki Partners shows. The sector, currently worth $1.4 billion, is projected to reach $2.7 billion by 2035.
The report notes that Nigeria now has 17 active data centres and nine more under construction, solidifying its position as West Africa’s leading digital hub.
A typical 1 MW Tier-III data centre drives a huge economic impact:
- $17m construction-phase output
- $39m+ cumulative returns in 10 years
- 700 construction jobs
- 20–30 technical roles annually
Nigeria’s rapid uptake of cloud services, rising mobile and internet penetration, and growing AI demand are powering the boom.
However, power instability, fibre gaps outside Lagos, talent shortages, and costly land acquisition remain major challenges.
Verraki recommends boosting fibre networks, improving power reliability, expanding skills training, and developing special data centre zones to unlock the sector’s full potential.
With Africa holding 17 per cent of the global population but just one per cent of data centre capacity, Nigeria is well positioned to become the region’s digital infrastructure anchor.
