Rack Centre’s $120M Data Centre Just Doubled Nigeria’s Capacity—And Quietly Repositioned Lagos in Africa’s AI Infrastructure Map
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In a country with just over 15MW of total installed data centre capacity, a single project just added 12MW.
Rack Centre’s newly launched LGS2 facility in Lagos is the largest data centre Nigeria has ever seen—by a wide margin. It doesn’t put Lagos on par with Johannesburg or Cape Town. Not yet.
But it does something potentially more important:
It moves Nigeria from aspiration to execution in the race to build out Africa’s digital infrastructure.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Built for What’s Coming
LGS2 isn’t just an upgrade. It’s a redefinition.
12MW of IT load—from 1.5MW previously
3,240 square metres of white space
Six halls, 2MW each
High-density, AI-ready configuration
In a region where most facilities still operate below 5MW, this is a continental outlier outside of South Africa. It’s Rack Centre saying:
We’re no longer just keeping up. We’re building ahead.
Global Pipes to Local Hubs
One of the most underappreciated infrastructure gaps in West Africa is network density.
LGS2 tackles that head-on:
Direct access to five undersea cables, including Equiano and 2Africa
Four Meet-Me-Rooms, offering carrier-neutral connectivity
Hosts Nigeria’s Internet Exchange Point (IXPN), reducing local latency and interconnection costs
The result?
Lagos is no longer at the edge of Africa’s digital map—it’s becoming a node.
Designed for Power-Constrained Realities
The biggest bottleneck for scaling AI infrastructure in emerging markets isn’t land. It’s power.
Rack Centre designed LGS2 to overcome that:
Gas turbines for primary generation
Diesel backup to ensure reliability
Solar integration coming soon
Targeting Nigeria’s lowest Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)
This hybrid approach isn’t just efficient—it’s resilient.
In markets with unreliable grids, it’s the only real way to build.
A Signal, Not a Summit
Let’s be honest about where Nigeria stands.
Total data centre capacity in Nigeria is ~27MW (with LGS2)
South Africa alone boasts 250MW+, and its market size tops $1 billion
Nigeria’s data centre market is expected to grow from ~$130M in 2021 to ~$288M by 2027
So no, LGS2 doesn’t make Nigeria a peer to South Africa.
But it does make Nigeria viable—and that’s a massive shift.
Why?
Because digital infrastructure has a compounding effect.
One credible hyperscale facility unlocks:
Local cloud services
Data localization policies
Lower cost of compute for fintech, e-commerce, AI
Investor confidence for follow-on builds
This is the first domino.
The Execution Behind the Numbers
LGS2 isn’t a rendering. It’s live.
Estimated cost: $120M+
Location: 20,000 sqm greenfield site in Ikeja
Timeline:
Groundbreaking in April 2023
Operational by March 2025
Commissioning in April 2025
It’s also carrier-neutral and modular—positioned to scale with demand.
Built by ITB Nigeria and backed by institutional investors, this project is a real-world template for how to build meaningful infrastructure in emerging markets.
What Happens Next
LGS2 won’t bring AI dominance to Nigeria.
But it will bring something more foundational:
Cost-effective local compute
Reduced reliance on foreign cloud platforms
Confidence for hyperscalers and edge players
Momentum for regional peering and sovereign data policy
It won’t be the last major facility either.
What LGS2 proves is this:
With the right capital, planning, and power strategy, Nigeria can play in the same league—even if it’s not yet at the same scale.
Closing Take
Africa’s digital transformation will not be evenly distributed.
It will happen node by node.
Megawatt by megawatt.
Deal by deal.
Rack Centre’s LGS2 isn’t a moonshot.
It’s a milestone.
A signal to investors, governments, and global cloud players that Africa’s infrastructure era has begun—and Nigeria intends to lead from the frontlines, not follow from behind.
One More Thing
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