Telecom
Data Center Operators to Invest Massively in Growth of Digital Infrastructure Across Africa
Leading data center operators across Africa are investing massively in expanding their footprint to power the explosive growth in data consumption and digital services fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Server racks in server room data center.
These investments will ensure that large enterprises delivering services across Africa, and global Content Delivery Networks will be able to provide seamless and uninterrupted services to their subscribers without incurring the costs of building their own data centers.
This was revealed at the recently concluded plenary session at the International Telecoms Week 2021 themed “Explore the growing Data Center ecosystem in West Africa”, sponsored by MainOne.
The panel comprising of the leadership of leading data center businesses across the continent included the CEOs of MainOne, Funke Opeke, Ayotunde Coker of Rack Center, Wouter van Hulten of Pan-African Internet Exchange Data Centres (PAIX), Stephane Duproz of Africa Data Centres and was moderated by Guy Zibi of Xalam Analytics, the leading analyst covering data center developments on the continent.
The industry leaders highlighted the acceleration of investments in the digital infrastructure space in the region brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic which exposed the gaps that exist in the market.
Of particular note was the fact that West Africa currently delivers less than 10% of the total African data center capacity and that Africa which is home to about 17% of the world’s population has only 1% of the global data center capacity.
This under-representation points to the fact that majority of data content consumed in Africa is hosted outside the continent and the market is severely underserved.
The speakers agreed that the market was ripe for expansion given the increasing access to broadband and the rapid uptake of services by large enterprises, FinTechs, and global players entering the region for the first time.
In addition, the companies expect that growth to skyrocket with the new submarine cables planned by large global content providers and the deployment of edge nodes in the region.
The CEO of MainOne reviewed the company’s role in closing the gap in the region’s Data Center capacity, stating “In Ghana, we recently launched a Tier III Data Center in Appolonia City, and in Nigeria, we are expanding our Lekki Data Center facility in Lagos which is near capacity with a new build. We will also break ground on our expansion in the VITIB Free trade zone in Abidjan before the end of the year.
The session closed with reflections around the need for sustainability of Data Centers as more organizations focus on becoming carbon neutral. MainOne demonstrated leadership in this area stating “Power remains a challenge in this part of the world and we realised that while there is power available in the grid all across Africa, distribution is one of the key challenges.
“Our strategy has been deploying facilities with direct, privately enabled, access to grid power or independent power plants. This strategy has delivered 94% grid power availability to the Lekki Data Center where we are already exploring replacing diesel with gas and renewable sources for our residual power needs.”
The 2021 Africa Panel session at ITW, continuously sponsored by MainOne for 8 years remains the leading platform for key global players to share perspectives on the growth of digital infrastructure across Africa.
Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) is planning to encourage geo-political regions that grants zero charges for ‘Right of Way’ approvals as well not implementing arbitrary charges on telecommunications base stations in their regions with zero tariff.
Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON disclosed this to Nigeria CommunincationsWeek against the backdrop of incessant closure of base stations in some states.
He said that operators believe that the way out of this arbitrary charges and high cost of RoW approvals is regional tariffs.
“Operators are advocating for a regional tariff which means that geographical regions of Nigeria where cost of doing business for telecommunications operators is extremely high will attract high tariff compared to regions where there is low operating cost.
“Our advocacy of regional tariff is not based on a particular state but on regions. As at today there are regions where we have zero cost of “Right of Way” and low cost of doing business. Tariffs should reflect on operating environment. This means that national rate plan should consider high and low cost of doing business.
“If this is implemented, in a long run we could witness some regions having zero tariff because operational cost in such regions are friendly to operators,” he said.
It would be recalled that Kogi State recently shut down some operators’ base stations on account of local levies which raises the call for discriminatory tariff among geographical locations.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has hit back at Meta Platforms Inc, warning the tech giant that its threat to exit Nigeria will not erase its legal responsibilities or liabilities under the Nigerian law.
Meta said earlier today, May 3, that it “may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures.”
Meta’s warning came after it lost a legal bid last week to overturn a ₦220 million fine imposed by the FCCPC for violations of data protection and consumer rights laws.
Reacting to Meta’s threat, FCCPC, in a statement on Saturday, May 3, described Meta’s statement as “a calculated” move aimed at “inducing negative public reaction and potentially pressuring the FCCPC to reconsider its decision.”
FCCPC said that Meta threatening to leave Nigeria does not absolve the company of liabilities for the outcome of a judicial process.
“These infringements included denying Nigerians the right to control their personal data, transferring and sharing Nigerian user data without authorisation, discriminating against Nigerian users compared to users in other jurisdictions and abusing their dominant market position by forcing unfair privacy policies,” FCCPC wrote on X.
“Interestingly, Meta had been fined for similar breaches in Texas ($1.5b) and only recently was asked to pay $1.3 Billion for violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules.
Elsewhere in India, South Korea, France and Australia, Meta had faced varying penalties for similar breaches. But Meta never resorted to the blackmail of threatening to exit those countries. They obeyed.”
Meta may shut down its Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in protest against the substantial fines imposed by multiple government agencies.
The tech giant has been ordered to pay nearly $300 million in fines in Africa’s most populous nation, following regulatory demands which Meta described as “unrealistic.”
In July 2024, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), imposed a $220 million fine on Meta for allegedly discriminatory and exploitative practices against Nigerian consumers.
The commission stated that Meta had failed to engage a Data Protection Compliance Organisation and had not submitted a Nigeria Data Protection Regulation audit report for two consecutive years.
Similarly, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), demanded $37.5 million over unapproved advertising, while the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), announced a $32.8 million fine for an alleged data privacy breach.
Meta challenged the decisions at the Federal High Court in Abuja but was unsuccessful, as the court upheld the fines in a ruling delivered last week.
The court directed the company to comply with payment by the end of June, but Meta has indicated it may not do so, according to the BBC.
“The applicant may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures,” the company stated in court documents.
Responding to the NDPC’s assertion that Meta’s data processing could expose Nigerian users to health and financial risks, the company said the agency had failed to “properly interpret the laws guiding data privacy.”
Telcos Plan Zero Tariff in Some Regions with Low Opex
Expert Urges FG to Leverage Digital Assets to Drive Diversification Goal
First Asset Management Surpasses ₦1 Trillion in Assets Under Management
SeamlessHR, AOPN Push Payroll Innovation for Nigeria’s Outsourcing Growth
FCCPC Warns Meta: Quitting Nigeria Won’t Erase Legal Liabilities
Telecom2 days agoFines: Meta Threatens to Shut Down Facebook, Instagram in Nigeria
General News2 days agoHow Investments in Reskilling and Trust Help Businesses Succeed in the Agentic AI Era
Telecom2 days agoPremier League Fever Builds as MTN Nigeria Stages Dual-City Watch Parties This Weekend
E-Business2 days agoNigerians to Pay More for IDs as NIMC Raises Service Fees
E-Financial2 days agoFMITI, NGX Group Partner to Achieve $6Bn Investment Target
E-Business2 days agoPwC says AI Adoption by African Businesses will Unlock Growth
News2 days agoNITDA, RHI, Commission IT Community Centre in Ibadan
News2 days agoNigeria Reports 832 Lassa Fever and Mpox Cases, Death Toll Hits 135