The Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive requiring banks and fintech companies to host their data locally could position Nigeria as a major data centre hub in Africa, the Chief Executive Officer of Open Access Data Centres, Ayotunde Coker, has said.
The CBN directive, which requires financial institutions to host their data in Nigeria by January 2027, is already driving increased demand for local data centre and cloud infrastructure.
Coker said the policy could trigger notable investment in data centre capacity, create jobs and strengthen Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
Speaking in an interview with Nairametrics, he said the directive was already generating increased interest from fintech companies and core banking platforms seeking additional colocation and cloud capacity.
“We have seen a step change in the interest in taking more colocation capacity or using more cloud services,” Coker said.
He added that local cloud providers would also need to expand their capabilities to meet rising demand from financial institutions.
According to him, the economic impact of data localisation would extend beyond data centre operators to cloud providers and other businesses supporting the digital infrastructure ecosystem.
Coker said concerns over the safety of locally hosted data could be addressed through internationally recognised data centre standards, security systems and resilient infrastructure.
He noted that OADC operates facilities with certifications including ISO 27001, uptime certification and PCI DSS, which is relevant to financial institutions.
“Data centre standards are global standards. They are not just backroom server rooms,” he said.
Coker also said local hosting could improve performance because data and applications would be located closer to their users.
On resilience, he said OADC had maintained a track record of 100 per cent uptime and had an interconnection ecosystem involving more than 45 carriers, alongside connectivity to multiple subsea cable systems.
He said the company currently had available capacity that could support large-scale cloud requirements and was progressively expanding its facilities.
OADC is developing its Lekki data centre campus in stages, with each phase designed to provide six megawatts of capacity, eventually reaching 24 megawatts across four phases.
Coker said the facilities were also being designed to support artificial intelligence workloads, which could require as much as 40 megawatts of power.
He said OADC was working to strengthen its power supply through direct connections to the utility network and planned links to gas pipelines, including plans for up to 50 megawatts of on-site gas-powered generation.
The expansion, he said, was aimed at creating what could become the largest data centre campus in West Africa and supporting both local and international cloud and colocation requirements.
Coker said data centre infrastructure should also expand beyond Lagos, although he expects the city to remain Nigeria’s major hub because of its extensive subsea cable connectivity, gas infrastructure and growing power capacity.
He disclosed that OADC was considering additional locations, including Port Harcourt and Abuja, while noting that other operators already had facilities in those cities.
According to him, wider distribution of data centres would improve resilience and access to computing capacity across the country.
He also cited the government’s Project BRIDGE, which is intended to expand fibre connectivity, as a development that could improve access to computing resources.
Coker said data localisation could also accelerate the adoption of cloud-based core banking systems in Nigeria.
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He argued that banks that use reliable colocation facilities could achieve greater uptime than institutions operating their own data centres, where power and other infrastructure challenges can create additional operational demands.
“The most agile banks will colocate and run their core banking more reliably than those that have their own data centres,” he said.
With local cloud infrastructure expanding, Coker said banks could increasingly consider moving core banking systems and other critical workloads to locally hosted cloud platforms.
He urged banks to begin planning their migration ahead of the January 2027 deadline rather than waiting until the last minute.
His advice to chief information and technology officers was to assess their existing data, identify suitable local infrastructure and develop clear migration and risk-management plans.
“Do not start by saying that it is not possible. Start by architecting the solution and the roadmap to achieve it quickly,” he said.
Coker also advised banks to avoid relying on a single provider, suggesting that institutions consider a combination of primary, disaster recovery and cloud providers to strengthen resilience.
He said the data localisation policy was also sending a signal to international cloud providers that Nigeria was creating a market for locally hosted cloud services.
Coker argued that Nigeria’s gas resources, connectivity and expanding data centre infrastructure could give the country an opportunity to move beyond data localisation and eventually become an exporter of computing services.
“Nigeria is therefore well positioned to become a data centre hub capable of exporting compute,” he said.
About the Author
Cecilia Attah is a tech analyst with a degree from Benue State University. She covers tech news and startups at TechRegard with a focus on how technology is transforming Africa and shaping the global landscape.
