Nigeria hosts 25 data centres, second most in Sub‑Saharan Africa, faces power challenges

What happened: According to the IMF’s 2026 report, Sub‑Saharan Africa hosts about 160 data‑center facilities, with Nigeria ranking second at 25 facilities, behind South Africa’s 62 and ahead of Kenya’s 19. The continent’s AI‑ready infrastructure remains highly concentrated, with nearly half of the region’s centres in just South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

Why it matters: Data centres are the physical backbone of AI, cloud services and digital platforms. Nigeria’s growing share shows progress in attracting investment—such as the $700 million Cassava‑NVIDIA GPU deal and local AI education wins—but the country still struggles with unreliable grid power; 86 % of firms rely on backup generators and electricity subsidies consume a notable share of GDP. This imbalance threatens to erode the productivity gains AI could bring.

What you should know/do: If you work in tech, invest in, or rely on digital services, consider how power reliability affects uptime and costs. Explore backup power options, negotiate service‑level agreements that cover outage risks, and support policies that expand renewable‑energy‑backed data‑center capacity to ensure sustainable AI growth.

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2026/08/05/top-15-african-countries-with-the-most-data-centres-in-2026/