Nigeria’s leading data centre operators have said that power generation is no longer the country’s biggest obstacle to digital infrastructure growth, shifting the focus instead to reliability and distribution as data demand surges in the AI era.

This was the central message from industry executives at the Hyperscalers Convergence Africa Conference held in Lagos, which brought together regulators, investors, and technology leaders from over 15 countries.

During a panel on Data Centre and Energy, experts including Guy Zibi, Managing Partner at Xalam Analytics; Johnson Agogbua, CEO of Kasi Cloud Data Centers; Roger Shutte, General Manager for Infrastructure and Cloud Engineering at MTN Nigeria; Snehar Shah, CEO of IX Africa Data Centres; Karim Amer, Head of IP Business for Nokia (North, West, and Central Africa); Tola Talabi, CEO of Elektron Energy; Wole Adeoti, Head of Operations at Digital Realty; Gbenga Adegbiji, CEO of Geniserve; and Diana, Senior Associate and Energy Policy Expert at George Etomi & Partners, shared insights on the evolving relationship between power and Africa’s data economy.

“Power isn’t scarce,” said Johnson Agogbua, CEO of Kasi Cloud Data Centers. “The challenge is reliable delivery and quality. We’re investing in redundancy to make sure every megawatt reaches the rack.”

Kasi Cloud is currently building a 100-megawatt hyperscale campus in Lekki, Lagos, supported by a private 132-kilovolt substation and 60-megawatt transformer — one of the largest projects of its kind in West Africa.

According to Xalam Analytics, Nigeria and South Africa jointly account for over 65 per cent of Africa’s operational colocation capacity, with Nigeria projected to exceed 100 megawatts of installed capacity by 2026, driven by cloud adoption, fintech growth, and AI-based applications.

Elektron Energy CEO, Tola Talabi, described Nigeria’s energy situation as an investment opportunity rather than a constraint.

“Power is not just a challenge; it’s an opportunity. Data centres provide the stable, long-term demand that makes energy projects bankable,” he said.

Talabi revealed that Elektron Energy is developing a $50 million Independent Power Project (IPP) in Victoria Island, Lagos, aimed at reducing reliance on the national grid by supplying embedded power to multiple data centres and commercial hubs.

Until recently, unreliable grid supply forced operators to depend heavily on diesel and hybrid systems, with energy costs consuming up to 40 per cent of total operational expenses.

Energy policy expert Diana said reforms under the Electricity Act 2023 could accelerate private investment if state governments act decisively.

“State electricity markets could become critical,” she noted. “They can create localised, bankable frameworks that attract investors and ensure returns.”

Despite ongoing challenges, participants expressed optimism about the future of Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.

“We’ve solved scarcity,” one panellist concluded. “Now it’s about reliability, sustainability, and scale.”