Nxtra aims to build one of the largest networks of data centres in Africa and will build high-capacity data centres in major cities across Airtel Africa’s footprint, which includes 14 markets across the continent.
The first of the facilities that Nxtra will build will be in Lagos, where it will provision up to 34MW of capacity.
Expected to be live in mid 2025, Airtel Africa said the data centre is designed to host high density racks and integrate the latest best practice construction to achieve 1.3 power usage effectiveness (PUE).
Airtel Africa plan to combine its fibre footprint across Africa with its new data centres, which will offer integrated services to global hyper-scalers, large African enterprises, startups, SMEs and governments.
“A rapid increase in data centre capacity is needed to support the growth potential of Africa’s digital economy. We’re proud to drive the future of Africa’s digital infrastructure, unlocking opportunities for businesses to grow and fuelling economic prosperity,” said Airtel Africa’s Group CEO, Segun Ogunsanya.
“Airtel Africa’s team has consistently shown our ability to deliver on infrastructure projects across Africa, and we are confident that our next generation data centres will support our ambition to become the partner of choice for global customers and Africa’s newest tech unicorns alike.”
Nxtra will also help enable customers meet data sovereignty requirements while at the same time enabling more local cloud services to be offered in the countries where it operates.
Bharti Airtel, Airtel Africa’s parent company, already has a subsidiary focused on building data centres in its home market of Inida. Carlisle Group has a 25% stake in Nxtra by Airtel, although the Airtel Africa subsidiary is a separate entity and fully owned by Airtel Africa.
