The Federal Government of Nigeria is ensuring strides towards bolstering the domestic IT industry. The main objective is to facilitate data localization encouraging businesses to patronize local data centre operators. Dr Vincent Olatunji, the Acting Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), expressed this mandate during his recent visit to Rack Centre, a high-calibre Tier III data centre situated in the heart of Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos.
“We will do everything within our jurisdiction to ensure the Nigerian government policy on local hosting of government data in the country is adhered to entirely,” Dr Olatunji pledged.
On his visit, Dr. Olatunji lauded the efforts of the Rack Centre team, led by its Managing Director, Mr. Ayotunde Coker. He characterized the centre as the finest he’d encountered in the country.
Responding to the commendation, Mr. Coker expressed his delight at the recognition. He emphasized Rack Centre’s uniqueness, stating, “Rack Centre is the only truly carrier-neutral data centre that is greatly connected in Africa.”
The NITDA, established during the Obasanjo administration, is tasked with developing local content in the technology sector. This work proceeds in alliance with the Federal Ministry of Communications to enforce pertinent policies. NITDA has been a stalwart supporter of startup firms either via direct financial aid or through re-training in line with international best practices.
Rack Centre’s operations are owned by Jagal, a Nigerian firm with interests spanning from energy to other key sectors. Their new data centre, renowned for its energy efficiency, sprawls over a considerable 65,000 square feet area. A notable development in a country still grappling with consistent electricity supply.
Rack Centre notably isn’t the pioneer in setting up such sophisticated facilities within Nigeria. Earlier, MainOne, a network and internet solutions company operating across the West African sub-region including Cameroon, commissioned its data centre in Lagos just over five years ago.
More so, Galaxy Backbone wireless, a Nigerian company is focusing primarily on domesticating public sector data.
As of 2015, Nigeria and South Africa accounted for approximately 60% of the total data centre space in the African continent according to a report derived from TLC, a company that specializes in data centre pricing. It added that these two nations within their confines house over 230 million of the continent’s billion people. In a bid to condone this evidence, Lagos was recently ranked 19 in an international list of affordable and entrepreneurial cities, as featured in Times Magazine. The Financial Times, furthermore, recommended Lagos and Johannesburg amongst other cities as potential hotspots for venture capitalists in Africa- thanks to the surge in innovation across these locales.
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Paul Femi Balo is the founder and publisher of TechBooky. He covers artificial intelligence, African technology, digital infrastructure, enterprise technology and the global digital economy.
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