AFRIDATA, USTDA Sign $1.87m Grant for Nigerian Data Centre Study

AFRIDATA, USTDA Sign $1.87m Grant for Nigerian Data Centre Study Chuks Okocha in Abuja AFRIDATA, a pan-African digital infrastructure platform, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) have signed a 1.87-million-dollar grant agreement to fund a feasibility study for a proposed data centre project in Nigeria. The project estimated to cost between 650 million dollars and one billion dollars, aims to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and secure digital infrastructure. The agreement was announced yesterday at a ceremony and stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja to mark the formal launch of AFRIDATA Nigeria, the platform’s first phase. The Nigerian project is part of a planned continental digital infrastructure platform valued at between two billion dollars and three billion dollars. AFRIDATA plans to build a flagship data centre in Lagos and a second facility in Delta State to provide backup services and disaster recovery support. The feasibility study will assess the facilities’ technical and financial requirements, including electricity supply, connectivity, operational capacity and implementation options. The Lagos facility is being designed to meet Tier IV reliability standards, with the company considering the Lagos Free Zone as a possible location. Ezekiel Odiogo, Senior Managing Director of INFRAGORA Global Capital, said the project would strengthen Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and support economic growth across West Africa. He said the proposed investment could create thousands of jobs for young people and women, while improving productivity and access to digital services. USTDA Deputy Director, Thomas Hardy said the agency’s support would strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy and create opportunities for American companies in the country’s expanding technology market. Hardy stressed the importance of trusted and secure digital infrastructure as African countries prepared to deploy artificial intelligence across different sectors. The project is expected to create direct and indirect jobs in construction, engineering, cybersecurity, data centre operations and other digital services. Reliable, locally hosted data capacity will increase business productivity across Nigeria, giving banks, telecom operators, manufacturers, start-ups, SMEs and government institutions faster, more secure and more affordable access to cloud and AI services.Africa is home to nearly one in five people worldwide, yet it holds less than one percent of global data center capacity, forcing reliance on distant servers that slow connections and increase security risks. Developing trusted data center capacity in Nigeria will fortify critical digital infrastructure and keep data, value and talent on the continent. AFRIDATA Nigeria is designed to serve as a regional center connecting neighboring markets across West Africa.It aims to deepen digital integration, strengthen data sovereignty and AI sovereignty, attract global cloud and AI investment and drive regional economic growth, so that no African country is left behind.Nigeria is the flagship of AFRIDATA’s continental rollout across eight hub markets spanning all five regions of Africa.Plans are already advancing in South Africa, for a 200MW green-powered campus, and in Angola, for a 50–60MW campus along the Lobito Corridor. The rollout will extend to Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana and Kenya. When fully deployed, the platform will build a “Digital Infrastructure Wall” across West, East, Central, North and Southern Africa, with Nigeria at its forefront. A high-level panel on digital infrastructure and the AI-ready economy followed the signing. Panelists included Zukiswa Sithole of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA); Randy Smith of Enercon; Prof. Henrietta Onwuegbuzie of Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, and Mr. Gbenga Adegbiji, Chief Executive Officer, Geniserve Limited, Former Chief Operating Officer, MainOne.