Airtel Nigeria to Build 38MW Hyperscale Data Centre in Eko Atlantic
The facility, to be branded under the "Nxtra by Airtel" name, will be sited in the high-security Eko Atlantic development and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2026.
Airtel Nigeria has unveiled plans for a 38-megawatt hyperscale data centre in Lagos, marking a significant investment in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital infrastructure. he facility, which will be located in the high-security Eko Atlantic district, is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2026.
Positioned to serve hyperscalers, government agencies, and enterprises of all sizes, the data centre will feature over 3,000 racks across six floors and a built-up area of approximately 300,000 square feet. It is engineered for high power density—up to 25 kilowatts per rack—making it suitable for next-generation workloads, including GPU-intensive applications and artificial intelligence.
Speaking at a media roundtable in Lagos, Airtel Nigeria CEO Dinesh Balsingh said the facility represents the company’s long-term commitment to building digital infrastructure that supports cloud, AI, and the broader digital economy.
“Network is the core backbone on which our business runs. The real question is not whether to digitalize, but how quickly and intelligently we can do so, while keeping the customer at the centre.”
– Dinesh Balsingh, CEO, Airtel Nigeria
The project’s location offers strategic advantages, including proximity to undersea cable landing stations and dense fibre routes. It will also feature carrier-neutral connectivity, energy-efficient systems targeting a PUE of less than 1.4, and redundant power sourced from multiple substations.
Beyond technical capacity, Balsingh underscored Airtel’s focus on service quality and customer impact, pointing to recent tools for network visibility, efforts to expand access in underserved areas, and investments in energy sustainability.
On the fibre front, Airtel has relocated over 3,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable in the past two years to improve network resilience, minimise downtime, and support both 4G and 5G deployments. The company has achieved 100 percent 4G coverage across Nigeria and is ramping up investments in route redundancy, particularly in regions prone to vandalism or construction-related disruptions.
With an estimated investment exceeding $120 million, the project adds momentum to Africa’s rising profile in global data infrastructure development.
