E-Business
Data Centre Infrastructure is Strategic to Developing Economy – Coker
Ayotunde Coker is the managing director of Rack Centre a data centre operator. He spoke to Chike Onwuegbuchi on the importance of data centre infrastructure to a developing economy such as Nigeria.
How Strategic is Data Centre Infrastructure to Developing Economy like Nigeria?
It is a very strategic core-infrastructure for the economy. Why? The world is now a data economy and we live in a global ecosystem.
However, if there is lack of quality infrastructure to provide the hosting of data, it underpins everything that is done. So, if that infrastructure is available locally, sovereign data requirement can be met at the right quality.
For us to do what we do, we have to make sure we match the quality provided abroad. In fact, we exceed most of the qualities obtained outside the country and our achievements last year, both as a company and individuals, attest to that.
Secondly, the data centre is a hosting environment that supports the whole range of networks.
We know broadband penetration is key for economic development, but if there is no reliable data centre, locally, where will the broadband be hosted? Again, if there is no interconnectivity, there will be no internet access, which will have negative impact on the economy. Of course, internet access has positive impact on the economy.
Therefore, you start to get IT services at the endpoint of use, which drives growth in the economy. That is the rationale I used to say having very credible data centre infrastructure in the country in the right levels of quality is very strategic indeed.
That brings us to the question around certifications. If we agree a data centre is a critical, underpinning infrastructure for our data enabled economy, then, it is absolutely right that we have the highest quality. And a good sign of the quality is that the certified design is built.
Then, surely, we are interested in getting Nigeria noticed in the global comity of data centre facilities. Although, we have Nigerian sovereign data rules, which by any global standard, is in Nigeria’s prerogative to have, however, there is still the need to maintain the global standards which enables us to co-exist and connect to that global ecosystem.
There are still queries about whether the country has the capacity to meet up with the data centre needs locally
If you look at when we started; five and half years now – October 2013, we have been operating 100% uptime. We have also embarked on that journey to educate businesses executives that they not need to build a datacentre but to outsource their data centre requirements instead. Why? It takes time to build that trust- Rack Centre had maintained a 100% uptime, is highly secured, well respected have sterling track records with its customers.
Our customer ratings are consistently high- we are passionate about them and try everything to make sure they are satisfied. We never compromise customers satisfaction. It has been tough but rewarding journey to change the mind-set about trusting locally built infrastructure of this kind. We are proud of the profile we have created for Nigeria in the global data centre space. We still have some work to do- reason being that a lot of our customers collocate with us and they say, “ah, Mr. Coker when are you guys going to build another location,” I replied, “we are working that so we can even bring more footprints closer to you”.
Also, it takes a very brave Chief Technical Officer, CTO, or Chief Information Officer, CIO to walk up to the Board with the preposition of spending millions of Dollars on a data centre. The Board would say, “have you been to Rack Centre” if the CIO or CTO said, “well, I didn’t consider Rack Centre before making the proposal” the Board would say, “please, go consider Rack Centre”. Four years ago, we would be trying to convince customers to come try our facilities.
Today that has changed. We now receive referrals who are interested in colocation. Others who decided to build have sunk millions of dollars, capital that they could have used to improve on their business on the front-end. On quality, how many of those have you seen as properly certified? They have to sleep, wake up at night; think about 24-hours power supply, how to purchase diesel. They have to be worried about the quality of the facility for it to stay up. Speak to any of our customers, they sleep well at night.
Also, with Rack Centre, we deliver a fantastic ecosystem. Overtime, we have noticed that the customers that host with us tend to be very advanced and successful. Perhaps, there is something in the DNA that assisted them to come and host with us. The profile of customers we have here attests to it. Even those that are not successful yet are on the road to becoming successful businesses. So, they see the value in quality service we offer as against issues around cost or “I have to go build by own datacentre”.
Still on capacity, data is exploding and there are two sides to it: One, you can go host your data abroad; however, latency is now a problem. If you look at the connectivity – we have globally respected infrastructure here. It means you don’t need to go abroad to host your data and suffer the latency impact.
How Scalable is Rack Centre?
We are scalable. We doubled our capacity in 2016. We are actually doubling our capacity again. In terms of power supply, we have 1.5megawatts and with the landmass we can build 8-10megawatts. We are also looking at another location in Lagos because our customers are asking for it. We also offer colocation; you don’t have to go abroad for that too.
About three years ago, we launched Cloud-on-Ground service and we have been building that ecosystem, because we realised that part of the reasons people may want to host abroad is due to thirst for cloud-based services. So, by having that reputation, even international companies that have cloud services can partner with us.
So, any company that tells you, “oh, I can’t host my data in Nigeria because services are not available,” can now confidently do that. In the time and journey, we have been, we able to provide support and requirements for colocation for local data hosting and content. The other issue is that as the local content policies are been enforced, we can assure that the capacity to meet the demand is here in Nigeria.
Service for the SMEs
Yes, that is something that has been missing in the past. SMEs are the heart of the economy. They need access to affordable hosting. That is why we are making footprints in smaller clouds; I mean, this is a key national infrastructure and the SMEs should enjoy local hosting. It will allow us to transform access to IT services offered by SMEs. For instance, if a FinTech company hosts with us, it implies they have locally hosted services to offer the banked or unbanked among us. As their customer-base grows they take more footprints with us.
Now, there are other SMEs that I call the professionals- lawyers, doctors, accountants, consulting firms – start-ups, they need to have efficient IT, because they also need big data. The more we can deliver that to them in an efficient manner, here, the more efficient they become and such services will have significant impact on the GDP of the country.
Issues Around Certification of Data Centres
The best known one is the Uptime Institute (UI) which is a global authority in datacentre quality assessment, training, and setting of best practices guides. They are based in the UK, but a part of US company. That’s the Institute we used for our certification. There is also the TIA in the US.
These bodies offer certifications on different tiers-I-IV The most popular and commercially viable is the Tier III. Some companies would want a datacentre to be constructed and certified to Tier IV; which is mainly for special purposes. But the Tier III is what most commercial datacentres go for.
Rack Centre positioning as Datacentre Leader in the Sub-Saharan Africa
We are doing a lot. It is an interesting market. I would like to put this in perspective: are we competing with datacentres in South Africa or do we offer better services than they do? I am confident that we are as good as and better than many in South Africa. Scale-wise, yes, they have been active for longer years, but I really do believe we will catch-up and even exceed them. We are the biggest economy in Africa. Lagos State itself is the fifth largest economy by GDP in Africa. And there are other exciting statistics about the Continent that give us that confidence.
However, the reason I wouldn’t say we are competing with South Africa is this: there is a scale in South Africa, but Rack Centre as Tier III is the most connected datacentre now, certainly, in Sub-Saharan Africa.
We believe in Africa. Why? The five undersea cables are directly connected to Rack Centre with about 32 Carriers connected to us. You can reach anywhere in Nigeria; with the four telecom companies we have in Rack Centre, we have most telecom masts in Nigeria connected here.
So, the opportunity for us to deliver the Edge Datacentre Services (EDS) is huge. Every country on the Atlantic coast of Africa is directly connected to us. The two, of those undersea cables, especially the WACC connect from here to South Africa. So, we connect to South Africa seamlessly.
It is a fantastic opportunity to cooperate with South Africa because we connect with datacentres there at low latency. We can deliver services in partnership with some operators there.
Presently, South Africa accounts for 50% of the datacentre (scale) capacity in Africa according to a study by XALAM Analytics, but the potential for Nigeria is huge and significant-if you look at the certifications we have had, the way we are regarded by our customers and the global industry, we are regarded as the premium.
With regards to global recognitions, 2018 was remarkable for us both in Nigeria and internationally as a Leading Datacentre; we were finalists in Datacentre Solutions in the UK (two categories).
In Monaco, last June, we were finalists in two categories too: Best Datacentre in Geophysical location; we won the geophysical location (representing Nigeria). This is against global competitors. In September we were at the Global Carrier Awards in London. We were finalists – Best Datacentre and we won the Best Datacentre innovation, these were global accolades.
Then, I was also given a Trail Blazer Award by the Uptime Institute in July 2018. It is an award given to a person, in a region annually. Just last month, I got another recognition, the Data Economy magazine top 200 personalities in the world, but I feel much proud about our Chief Engineer, Sunday Opadijo who won the Data Centre Dynamics, Datacentre Manager of the Year, against the world’s best.
I am very proud of that, because this is a young man who went to the University here in Nigeria; he has worked here and he is fantastic. He has been key part of our team. We entered him for the entries and he came top three and went in for the final and adjudged the best by a global jury in the UK.
So, when we talk about Rack Centre being a Premium Datacentre in Africa, it is very validated. The examples of our global ecosystem show that recognition, and our customers attest to it. You know why-one being that those awards are results of validations of our customers, not only indigenous, but also international ones.
Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has signed an international mail partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for improved delivery access to over 200 countries without middlemen.
Tolani Odeyemi, postmaster-general and chief executive officer of NIPOST, described the deal as a “major milestone” for the country’s logistics and postal sector.
In a statement on X on Monday, Odeyemi explained that the new agreement marks NIPOST’s first direct international airline partnership for several years.
“For a long time, NIPOST operated without any direct partnerships with international airlines, relying heavily on multiple third-party handlers,” the Postmaster-General stated. This often resulted in delays, higher costs, and uncertainty around the delivery of packages.”
She explained that under the new arrangement, KLM will directly handle all outbound international mail from Nigeria, eliminating the need for intermediaries.
“This translates to faster and more reliable delivery, reduced risk of loss or damage, lower handling charges, and access to over 200 countries through KLM’s global network,” the Postmaster-General stressed.
According to Odeyemi, NIPOST’s breakthrough came after it began settling long-standing debts owed to international carriers, a step she said was key to “rebuilding global trust” in Nigeria’s postal system.
She revealed that talks were also ongoing with Ethiopian Airlines to bolster regional and continental logistics, particularly on African and Eastern routes.
“Our goal is clear and unwavering: to connect Nigeria regionally and globally, efficiently, securely, and affordably,” Odeyemi asserted.
The NIPOST CEO described the development as a significant win for Nigerian businesses and small and medium-scale enterprises that rely on international shipping, stating, “You now benefit from quicker, more affordable international shipping, greater peace of mind with improved reliability, and new potential to reach and grow in global markets.”
Odeyemi commended the teams behind the scenes and pledged continued improvements in service delivery, adding that the deal signals a turning point for the agency.
The evolution of AI is not only affecting various industries, but it has also transformed cybercriminals’ tactics. One alarming trend is the use of AI to enhance phishing scams, refining them, targeting specific individuals, and making these attacks almost impossible to recognise.
Kaspersky reviews how AI is changing phishing techniques and why even the most cyber-aware employees may fall for these scams.
According to a recent Kaspersky study, the number of cyberattacks experienced by organisations in the last 12-months is reported to have increased by nearly half (48%) in the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region.
The most ubiquitous threat came from phishing attacks, with 51% of those questioned in the META region reporting this type of incident. With AI becoming a more prevalent enabler for cybercriminals, over half of the respondents in META (53%) anticipate significant growth in the number of phishing attacks. In this text, Kaspersky examine how AI is used in phishing and why experience alone is sometimes not enough to avoid becoming a victim.
Personalisation through AI
Previously, phishing attacks relied on a generic mass message sent to thousands, hoping some of the recipients would fall for the bait. AI has changed this into scripting highly personalised phishing emails in large numbers. Using publicly available information like that on social media, job boards, and companies’ websites, these AI-powered tools can generate emails tailored to an individual’s role, interests, and communication style.
For example, a CFO might receive a fraudulent email that mirrors the tone and formatting of their CEO’s messages, including accurate references to recent company events. This level of customisation makes it exceptionally challenging for employees to distinguish between legitimate and malicious communications.
Deepfake technology
AI has also introduced deepfakes into the phishing arsenal. These are increasingly being leveraged by cybercriminals to create fake but highly accurate audio and video messages, crafted to reflect the voice and appearance of the executives they seek to impersonate.
For example, in one reported case, attackers used a deepfake to impersonate multiple members of staff during a video conference, convincing the employee to transfer approximately $25.6 million. As deepfake technology continues to advance, it is expected that such attacks will become more frequent and harder to detect.
Bypassing traditional defenses
Cybercriminals can manipulate the script of traditional e-mail filtering systems with the use of AI. By analysing and mimicking legitimate email patterns, AI-generated phishing emails can bypass security software detection. Machine learning algorithms can test and refine phishing campaigns in real time, enhancing their success rates and making them increasingly sophisticated.
Why experience is not enough
Even experienced employees are falling victim to these advanced phishing attacks. The level of realism and personalisation that AI can achieve may override the skepticism that keeps experienced professionals cautious. Moreover, AI-generated attacks often exploit human psychology, such as urgency, fear, or authority, pressuring employees into acting without double-checking the authenticity of the request.
Combatting AI-hyped phishing
To defend against AI-driven phishing attacks, organisations must adopt a proactive and multi-layered approach that emphasises comprehensive cybersecurity. Regular, up-to-date AI-focused cybersecurity awareness training is critical for employees, helping them identify the subtle signs of phishing and other malicious tactics.
Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform can help with such training. Alongside this, businesses should implement robust security tools, such as Kaspersky Next and Kaspersky Security for Mail Server, capable of detecting anomalies in emails, such as unusual writing patterns or suspicious metadata.
A zero-trust security model also plays a vital role in minimising the potential damage of a successful attack. By restricting access to sensitive data and systems, this approach ensures that even if attackers breach one layer of security, they cannot compromise the entire network. Together, these measures create a comprehensive defense strategy, combining advanced technology with vigilant human oversight.
At least 10 out of every 100 Nigerians have fallen victim to data breaches since 2004, according to a new report by global cybersecurity firm Surfshark, raising serious concerns about the country’s long-standing vulnerability to cyber threats.
Surfshark’s research is based on data gathered from 29,000 publicly available databases.
Each unique breached email address is treated as a separate user account, and breaches often include additional personal data such as passwords, phone numbers, IP addresses, and postal codes.
The data was anonymised before analysis, and countries with populations under one million were excluded from the study.
Findings of the report revealed that a staggering 23.2 million Nigerian user accounts have been compromised in the past two decades, an alarming figure in a country with an estimated population of over 230 million.
This includes 7.3 million unique email addresses and 13 million passwords leaked into the public domain.
“Cyberattacks remain a persistent and growing threat globally, and Nigeria is no exception,” Surfshark stated in its analysis.
Despite a significant 85 per cent drop in new data breaches in the first quarter of 2025, falling from the previous quarter’s numbers—Nigeria still recorded over 119,000 breached accounts during the period. This places the country 34th worldwide in total breach volume.
Even with the recent decline, the scale and depth of past breaches remain troubling.
According to the report, 56 percent of Nigerian users affected by breaches are at heightened risk of identity theft, extortion, and unauthorised access to their online accounts.
“In Q1 2025 alone, an estimated one Nigerian account was breached every minute,” Surfshark noted.
The global picture also shows a dramatic shift: the number of leaked accounts dropped 93 percent year-on-year—from nearly 974 million in Q1 2024 to just 68.3 million in Q1 2025.
Countries with the highest number of breaches include the United States (16.9 million), Russia (4.4 million), and India (4.2 million).
However, when adjusted for population, smaller nations like South Sudan, Spain, and Slovenia reported the highest breach density, with South Sudan recording 61 breached accounts per 1,000 residents.
Luís Costa, Surfshark’s research lead, warned that the downturn in breach numbers should not lead to a false sense of security.
“Cyberthreats are constantly evolving, and attackers are adapting their tactics. Strong security practices, frequent password updates, and enabling two-factor authentication remain essential,” Costa stated.
The report underscores the urgent need for improved cybersecurity infrastructure and public awareness in Nigeria, as millions remain exposed to potential exploitation due to past breaches.
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