OADC to Invest $240m in 24mw Data Centre Facility in Lagos

Emma Okonji

Havingexhausted its initial 1.5mw data centre capacity, Open Access Data Centres (OADC) has commenced the construction of another data centre facility in Lekki, Lagos, which it said will have 24mw capacity when completed in the next 18 months.

The firm said the additional data centre facility, which is AI-powered, is part of it’s expansion plan in a bid to accommodate more customers, whose demands for data centre space are on the increase.

Speaking about the value of the on-going 24mw Tier III Data Centre facility at a press conference in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer at OADC, Dr. Ayotunde Coker, said the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), which is the parent company of OADC, is an open access wholesale hyperscale connectivity company, and a consortium partner with Google on the Google Equiano Cable, as well as a consortium partner of 2Africa Cable and Meta Cable.

“The total cost of establishing 1mw Tier III Data Centre is put at $10 million and OADC is constructing a twin Tier III Data Centre with 12mw capacity each, totaling 24mw data centre capacity at the cost of $240 million, which is expected to be completed in the next 18 months,” he said.

According to him, the Equiano Cable, which is now live across the west coast of Africa, lands into the OADC facility in Lagos, while the 2Africa Cable lands into the OADC facility in Durban, South Africa, thus bringing resilient data centre infrastructure to Nigeria and the rest of Africa, adding that such industry collaboration will boost global connectivity in order to maintain locally based hyperscale cloud capacity that will help to localise internet access in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.   

“So we have open access data centers, and we have the open access metro service that is building fiber across Lagos, and my role is to run the data centre business across Africa,” Coker said.

He explained that the new data centre facility has white space, with dedicated power lines, including power infrastructure directly from the power transmission line that runs into the facility, with a second transmission line coming from Ajah in Lekki area of Lagos.
“The 24 megawatts of hyperscale AI-powered data centre that is under construction, is a two-stage of 12 megawatts each, and piling has commenced in the second stage, designed to be the key leading data centre location in Nigeria,” Coker further said.
Giving details how Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from the OADC facility, Head, Converged Digital Infrastructure Africa at OADC, Obinna Adumike, said with over 40 million SMEs in Nigeria, the entry barrier would be significantly reduced, and access to broadband connectivity would greatly increase.

Highlight of the press briefing was the data centre facility tour, led by OADC Operations Manager, Olatunji Aduloju.