A subsidiary of the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) Group, Open Access Data Centres (OADC), has planned to spend $240 million on the expansion of its Lagos data centre to 24 megawatts by 2027.
OADC, which serves as the landing station for Google’s Equiano subsea cable in Nigeria, currently operates about 1.5MW of its planned capacity, which became operational two months ago.
Speaking with Tribune Online in Lagos on Wednesday, the Chief Executive Officer, Ayotunde Coker, said the expansion is part of a broader $500 million investment plan announced in 2021 to develop data centre infrastructure across Africa.
This was just as he noted that the expansion will be completed in phases.
Ayotunde stated that the project timeline is about 18 months or more due to the complexity of design and execution.
He added that the project will be backed by international finance partners, the International Finance Corporation and Proparco.
“One megawatt capacity of a data centre costs about $10m. We are building 24 megawatts, which is about $240m—a huge investment.
“The project timeline is about 18 months, though projects like this typically take more than two years due to the complexity of design and execution,” the CEO stated.” He said.
“The project will be backed by international finance partners, including the International Finance Corporation and Proparco, a development finance institution and subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group.
“The financing is structured as a sustainability-linked debt, with pricing tied to WIOCC’s (its parent company) commitment to improving the energy efficiency of its data centres and obtaining EDGE green building certification for them.
“It’s a massive investment with huge capital requirements. We were among those who announced sustainability-linked financing. Meeting sustainability targets allows us to access additional funding, which keeps us accountable.” He said.
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Ayotunde, who was the former CEO of Rack Centre, pointed out that the goal is to become a data centre hub for West Africa.
Coker explained that the Tier III-certified facility is designed with a 33,000-volt power supply and an 11kV distribution network, ensuring dedicated transformers and power distribution rooms per phase.
According to him, the OADC Lagos facility is critical to Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, supporting cloud services, content delivery, and enterprise connectivity.
He said there will be further expansion in Nigeria and other African markets, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
Coker noted the company’s positioning as a key player in Africa’s growing data centre market, driven by increasing demand for cloud computing, AI workloads, and improved internet access.
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