Eko Atlantic is set to become a major hub for Nigeria’s digital transformation as Airtel Nigeria reaffirms its commitment to strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure through the development of its Nxtra Data Centre. The initiative aims to bridge connectivity gaps, expand access to reliable data, and unlock new opportunities across Nigeria and the wider continent.
The commitment was highlighted during a recent high-level inspection tour of the Nxtra Data Centre, being developed by Nxtra by Airtel Africa at Eko Atlantic, Lagos, a city strategically designed to emerge as the nation’s leading data centre hub.
The inspection was led by Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh, alongside Nxtra by Airtel Africa CEO, Yashnath Issur, with the chairman of Eko Atlantic, Mr Gabbi Massoud, and the CEO of lead engineering firm Design Group Limited, Mr Bayo Odunlami, in attendance. The event also drew prominent technology journalists.
The Nxtra Data Centre has successfully passed a stringent design validation process and received approval to proceed with construction from Eko Atlantic authorities.
Commenting on the development, Mr Issur described the site visit as a milestone that demonstrates Airtel’s commitment to delivering a world-class digital facility on time, ensuring that the investment provides reliable, secure, and high-quality services for Nigeria and Africa at large.
“This Nxtra data centre in Lagos represents a critical part of our long-term vision for Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. Today’s visit allows us to review progress, engage our stakeholders, and ensure that our infrastructure investments continue to meet global standards and local needs. This data centre will deliver critical high multi-megawatt capacity in line with hyperscale customers and enable high-density environments. We are putting the infrastructure in place to bring the cloud to Nigeria,” the executive said.
Set to be the largest in Nigeria, the data centre is designed to deliver hyperscale and edge facilities across key African markets. With a capacity of 38 megawatts, the Lagos facility is expected to serve as a major hub for data hosting, cloud services, content distribution, artificial intelligence, and enterprise solutions in West Africa.
Balsingh reiterated that the project is progressing steadily towards the previously announced 2028 go-live date.
“Since the announcement of this project, our focus has been on building a world-class facility that supports Africa’s digital transformation agenda. We are encouraged by the progress recorded so far and remain committed to delivering a secure, energy-efficient, and future-ready data centre for Nigeria,” he said.
During the inspection tour, stakeholders were guided through key sections of the site, including the piling zones, where structural requirements have been rigorously tested. Technical teams provided briefings on infrastructure design, security architecture, redundancy systems, and sustainability measures to ensure operational excellence and reliability.
Strategically located near major fibre routes and undersea cable landing stations, the Eko Atlantic data centre is designed to enhance Nigeria’s data sovereignty, reduce latency, and improve access to reliable digital services for private and enterprise customers. It is expected to significantly boost the country’s data hosting capacity and support emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Massoud noted that the inspection tour highlighted Eko Atlantic’s commitment to world-class infrastructure.
“Eko Atlantic, as a city with high-quality infrastructure, will contribute positively to Nigeria’s economy and is a perfect location for developing the nation’s digital infrastructure. The Nxtra Data Centre reflects the calibre of projects we seek to attract: long-term, technology-driven investments built to the highest global standards. Today’s visit affirms the rigour of the planning and execution process by Nxtra and underscores Eko Atlantic’s commitment to facilitating and promoting Nigeria’s evolving digital ecosystem,” he explained.
Through this ongoing investment, Airtel Nigeria and Nxtra continue to demonstrate their commitment to building infrastructure that enables innovation, supports economic growth, and accelerates Nigeria’s digital transformation.
Nxtra by Airtel is developing a network of hyperscale data centres across Africa. Besides Lagos, new facilities are also under construction in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
