“Emerging property sectors, such as data centres, will grow almost fourfold,” a report by Estate Intel has stated.

According to the report, since the pandemic amplified the case for data centres as a resilient property sector in 2020, the stock within Nigeria has grown by an average of 21 per cent every year.

It stated, “It is expected to continue doing so until 2030, leveraging the increased attention from key global data centre players such as Equinix, OADC, and Digital Realty. While other sectors have struggled in recent years, the data centre segment has noted consistent growth. The market has historically been dominated by local players and investors, including 21st Century Technologies, Jagal (now Rack Centre) and MainOne. Between 2020 and 2024, a total of 14 data centres were completed, each with a median capacity of 1.5 MW.

“Between 2025 and 2030, however, Nigeria is expected to grow from 56.1 MW in data centre capacity to over 218 MW, representing a growth of more than 3.7 times. Over the next five years, the median capacity of data centres delivered will grow to 4.5 MW, larger than the 1.5 MW noted in the preceding five-year period. While the median capacity is expected to reach 4.5 MW, larger capacity projects exist. Major pipeline projects such as Airtel’s 38 MW Nxtra Data Centre in Eko Atlantic and OADC’s 24 MW centre along the Lekki Corridor are currently under construction.”

According to the report, over the past ten years, their data indicates that owner-occupiers are accounting for an increasing number of acquisitions and building completions, especially when compared with the preceding ten-year period.

The report stated that although the owner-occupier or partial owner-occupier segment does not yet account for the majority of Lagos’ acquisition and development completion activity, it is rapidly expanding. Between 2006 and 2015, most of the completions were led by large pan-African private equity funds, with some owner-occupier participation from companies. In the ten years that followed, we saw greater participation from owner-occupiers through new completions such as First Custodian HQ, Ecobank Pan-African Centre, Famfa Oil Tower and more. Similarly, recent acquisitions by a Sahara-related company for Madina Tower, Rain Oil’s acquisition of 35 Kofo Abayomi Street and the development finance institution’s acquisition of 50 per cent of The Pantheon show that owner-occupiers are becoming a dominant force. For office asset owners seeking an exit or conducting a disposal exercise over the next few years, indigenous companies without headquarters should become a big part of the strategy.”