In an effort to boost Nigeria’s digital economy, the government is planning to build the country’s first National Data Park and AI Compute Infrastructure at the Egbin Power Plant in Lagos. The announcement was made during a site visit led by Dr. Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, alongside key stakeholders like Dr. Kola Adesina, Chairman of Sahara Group. Egbin, already the largest privately-operated power station in West Africa, is seen as an ideal location due to its stable energy supply, ample land, and access to water for cooling.
The need for such a data center in Nigeria is pressing, as data centers and AI hubs require a significant, steady power supply. Egbin’s role as a major energy provider ensures the project will avoid the country’s ongoing power challenges that have hindered tech adoption. If successful, the facility would support Nigeria’s large-scale AI and data processing needs, enabling the deployment of high-performance servers capable of handling massive data sets for critical sectors such as agriculture, health, finance, and national security.
This initiative also aligns with Nigeria’s broader digital infrastructure goals, including plans to make Lagos a key subsea cable hub. The integration of high-speed data lines from international sources into the Egbin region would drastically reduce internet latency, enhance service delivery, and lower national internet costs. This infrastructure could make Lagos a digital powerhouse, attracting tech companies, cloud providers, and research institutions, all while boosting Nigeria’s data sovereignty.
The project has the potential to generate thousands of high-skilled jobs in engineering, data analysis, cybersecurity, and more. By leveraging the nation’s growing technical expertise, the data park could help address the youth unemployment crisis and drive further technological development. While the project is still in its exploratory phase, its success could transform Nigeria’s economy by placing data and AI processing at the heart of its future growth.
Source: Tech economy