Open Access Data Centres, a subsidiary of WIOCC Group, plans to expand its Lagos data centre to 24 megawatts by 2027, a huge project that could see the digital infrastructure company coughing out $240m.
OADC situated in Lekki, serving as the landing station for Google’s Equiano subsea cable in Nigeria, currently operates about 1.5MW of its planned capacity, which became operational two months ago.
The expansion, set to be completed in phases, is part of a broader $500m investment plan announced in 2021 to develop data centre infrastructure across Africa.
“One megawatt capacity of a data centre costs about $10m. We are building 24 megawatts, which is about $240m—a huge investment,” Chief Executive Officer Ayotunde Coker said during a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday.
The project will be backed by international finance partners, including the International Finance Corporation and Proparco, a development finance institution and subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group.
The financing is structured as a sustainability-linked debt, with pricing tied to WIOCC’s (its parent company) commitment to improving the energy efficiency of its data centres and obtaining EDGE green building certification for them.
“It’s a massive investment with huge capital requirements. We were among those who announced sustainability-linked financing. Meeting sustainability targets allows us to access additional funding, which keeps us accountable,” the executive told reporters.
Coker, who previously served as the CEO of Rack Centre, one of the industry leaders, before becoming a key member of the OADC, noted that the goal is to become a data centre hub for West Africa.
The Tier III-certified facility is designed with a 33,000-volt power supply and an 11kV distribution network, ensuring dedicated transformers and power distribution rooms per phase.
OADC, which operates data centres across Africa, said its Lagos facility is critical to Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, supporting cloud services, content delivery, and enterprise connectivity.
“The project timeline is about 18 months, though projects like this typically take more than two years due to the complexity of design and execution,” the CEO stated.
The company is also exploring further expansion in Nigeria and other African markets, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
OADC said it is positioning itself as a key player in Africa’s growing data centre market, driven by increasing demand for cloud computing, AI workloads, and improved internet access.
The company has data centers in operation and development in Lagos, Nigeria; Kinasha, DRC; and four in South Africa across Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town.
