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Nigeria’s data centre market to surpass $1 billion by 2031 – Technology Times

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Nigeria’s data centre market, valued at approximately $288 million in 2025, is projected to exceed $1 billion by 2031, according to industry analysis. 

Operators are rapidly expanding colocation and cloud capacity in Lagos and other urban hubs, betting not just on today’s demand but on the emergence of one of the world’s largest digital economies over the next three decades.

While often framed as a technology story, the country’s data centre expansion is fundamentally a demographics story. Africa’s largest economy is already home to more than 240 million people, and United Nations projections indicate the population could surpass 400 million by 2050, making Nigeria the world’s third most populous nation after India and China.

What makes this trajectory especially significant for investors is not just population size, but age and digital profile. Nigeria remains one of the youngest countries globally, with a median age of around 18 years, while internet penetration has surpassed 50%. This combination is creating a rapidly expanding base of mobile-first consumers entering the digital economy each year.

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Nigeria’s data centre market, valued at approximately $288 million in 2025, is projected to exceed $1 billion by 2031, according to industry analysis. Image credit: Image FX.

What makes this trajectory especially significant for investors is not just population size, but age and digital profile. Nigeria remains one of the youngest countries globally, with a median age of around 18 years, while internet penetration has surpassed 50%. This combination is creating a rapidly expanding base of mobile-first consumers entering the digital economy each year.

This dynamic is fundamentally reshaping the long-term case for digital infrastructure investment. Investors are positioning for what Nigeria could become over the next two decades: one of the world’s largest digital populations, with rising demand for cloud computing, AI-enabled services, fintech platforms, streaming content, enterprise software, and sovereign data storage.

Data centre: Major players scale up infrastructure

Major operators including Equinix, MTN, Rack Center, and Open Access Data Centers are scaling infrastructure to capture what they see as long-term structural growth rather than a short-term market cycle.

In 2025, MTN announced a more than $240 million investment into a new Lagos data facility designed to support AI and cloud demand. Recent reports suggest nearly $1 billion in broader data centre investments flowing into Nigeria as companies race to expand cloud and AI infrastructure capacity.

Much of the optimism rests on the belief that Nigeria’s digital consumption curve is still in its early stages:

Fintech adoption continues to accelerate across the country

Streaming platforms are expanding local content distribution

Enterprise cloud migration remains relatively underpenetrated compared to more mature markets

At the same time, artificial intelligence is expected to dramatically increase computing and storage requirements globally, creating additional incentives to localise infrastructure closer to end users. For Nigeria, data localisation and sovereign storage are becoming increasingly strategic as governments and businesses seek greater control over where critical information is processed and stored.

Data centre: Energy remains the key challenge

Still, the opportunity comes with significant challenges. Reliable electricity supply remains one of the biggest constraints on large-scale data centre expansion in Nigeria, where operators often rely heavily on backup generation and hybrid power systems.

Connectivity improvements, regulatory clarity, and long-term energy availability will all play critical roles in determining how quickly infrastructure deployment can scale.

“Data centres are becoming critical infrastructure for Africa’s economic future, but none of this growth happens without energy,” NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, said. “Countries like Nigeria are seeing rising demand because of demographics, connectivity and digital adoption, but investors also need confidence that long-term power supply can support that expansion.”

A scale opportunity few markets can match

Nigeria’s population growth alone does not guarantee digital infrastructure success. However, when combined with rising internet penetration, fintech adoption, cloud usage, and AI-driven computing demand, it creates a scale opportunity few emerging markets can match. Investors are looking beyond today’s market to the scale Nigeria’s digital economy could reach by 2031 and beyond.

Key data points summary

  • | Nigeria’s current population | 240+ million |
  • | Projected population by 2050 | 400+ million (3rd globally) |
  • | Median age | ~18 years |
  • | Internet penetration | 50%+ |
  • | Data centre market value (2025) | ~$288 million |
  • | Projected market value (2031) | $1+ billion |
  • | MTN Lagos facility investment | $240+ million |
  • | Broader industry investment pipeline | ~$1 billion |

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‘They told me I won’t see my husband alive’ – Widow of Plateau clergy killed by bandits

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The widow of a Plateau State-based clergy, Pastor Emmanuel Hills, who was abducted and killed by gunmen said to be Fulani bandits on Friday, August 28, has narrated how the abductors taunted her.

According to her, the gunmen told her she would never see her husband alive again, before dragging him and another clergyman, Pastor Gabriel Dipak, into the bush.

True to their words, the body of Pastor Hills, a Ghanaian missionary and Senior Pastor of Wonderful Grace of God Ministry, as well as treasurer of the Bokkos chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, was discovered the following morning close to where they were abducted.

DAILY POST had reported on Saturday that the gunmen intercepted a vehicle in which Pastor Hills was travelling from Jos to Bokkos, along with his wife and other passengers.

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According to the report, after forcing the vehicle to stop, the bandits singled out Pastors Hills and Dipak, a pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, while other passengers were robbed of their valuables.

In a viral video shared on social media platforms on Monday, Mrs Hills narrated that while the bandits were dragging her husband and Dipak into the bush, they taunted her and told her she would not see her husband alive again.

“We, that is, my husband, myself, Pastor Dipak and other passengers, were travelling from Jos to Bokkos on Friday at about 9 p m when the Fulani bandits ambushed our vehicle,” the grieving widow said.

Continuing, she said: “I can confirm that they were Fulani people because they were speaking the language.

“And they were carrying different guns and weapons. When they stopped the vehicle, they began searching, and when they realised my husband and Pastor Dipak were men of God, they seized the two of them.

“They robbed other passengers, collecting our phones, money and other valuable items. I was pleading with them to release my husband and the other pastor since they had robbed us of our belongings, but they said they were going to kidnap the two of them.

“As they were being dragged into the bush, one of the Fulani men turned to me and said I would not see my husband alive again.

“And true to their words, they killed him and dumped his body close to the scene of the kidnapping, where we found him on Saturday morning.

“My husband was a dedicated servant of God and a respected leader within the Christian community in Bokkos.

“We had five children, and now they have made me a widow and my children fatherless,” she cried.

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Honest Ahanor’s Move To Crystal Palace, On Loan From Chelsea, Raises Eyebrows In Italy

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A lot of eyebrows are already rising high in Italy, following the exit of Nigerian-born defender, Honest Ahanor from Atalanta to Chelsea of England, who immediately loaned him to their fellow-London-based English Premier League rivals, Crystal Palace.
Sports247 reports that, while the move is being celebrated as a personal achievement for Ahanor, critics of Italian football have rated it yet another setback for their country’s dwindling fortunes, as highlighted in three straight FIFA World Cup misses.
Ahanor joins two other Nigerian-born players of Italian origin – Destiny Udogie at Tottenham Hotspur and Michael Kayode at Brentford – in the EPL, but his exit after just one season at Atalanta has left Italian football buffs raising dust about a mass exodus of talent.
Growing apprehension in Italy about exits of their most promising talentts, both native born and many of other ancentral oigins, has been highlighted by an erudite writer, Antonio Moschella, who noted that the lure of pounds in England has become too tempting to ignore.
Moschella opined further in an article via Tribal Football, “Some players seem destined for the Premier League. That’s the case for Ahanor, whose name is English and whose Nigerian family has historical ties to Britain, due to longstanding colonial connections.
“The move of the 2008-born player from Atalanta to Chelsea, however, is just the latest confirmation of a trend that resembles a diaspora of young Italian talents. In fact, the defender is set to become the 13th Italian player in the Premier League.
“In the 2026/27 Premier League season, there are already 12 Italian players, including the new summer arrivals. Italians who will take the field in England this year are Donnarumma, Calafiori, Savona, Chiesa, Tonali, Udogie, Kayode, Gnonto, Palestra, Ruggeri, Di Gregorio and Leoni.
“It’s clear that the prevailing trend is now to leave the Mediterranean and cross the Channel. This trend, a sad reflection of Serie A and its domestic product as a whole, is mainly due to the extremely high salaries offered by Premier League clubs. But that’s not the only reason.
“The appeal of the Premier League, which for at least a decade has been the most exciting in terms of style and intensity, is undeniable. Ahanor’s move from the relatively provincial reality of Bergamo to a London that pulls the strings of European football is certainly a sign of growth.”
On the other hand, The Eagles are celebrating, as a post on their X handle @PalaceReport read: “Crystal Palace agree deal to sign Honest Ahanor on loan from Chelsea, the eagle has landed. Verbal agreement done as Honest Ahanor joins Chelsea from Atalanta for £40m and then joins Palace on loan.”

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