• Equinix to open $22M data center in Lagos by Q1 2026
• Project part of $100M Africa plan amid rising digital infrastructure demand
• Africa needs 700+ new data centers; market to double by 2030
  

U.S. digital infrastructure company Equinix announced on Monday, November 10, plans to open a new $22 million data center in Lagos, Nigeria. The facility, named LG3, is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of 2026 and will serve the growing needs of local and international businesses as digital transformation accelerates.

“As Lagos emerges at the crossroads of talent, innovation, and global connectivity, this facility is accelerating access to technologies like cloud, AI, and the next wave of startups,” said Wole Abu, Managing Director for Equinix West Africa. “We’re not just building data centres; we’re fostering growth, empowering innovation, and laying the groundwork for an interconnected African economy ready to lead on the global stage.”

Part of $100 Million Investment

The Lagos project is central to Equinix’s African expansion strategy. The company said LG3 is the first phase of a broader $100 million investment planned for the continent over the next two years. This forms part of a larger five-year, $390 million global plan announced in February 2024.

Equinix entered the African market in April 2022 with the $320 million acquisition of MainOne and has since expanded its footprint to Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and South Africa, where it launched its first data center in October 2024.

This expansion comes amid strong demand for digital infrastructure. As of mid-2023, the continent still accounted for less than 2% of the global supply of colocation data centers, with over half of that capacity concentrated in South Africa. According to the Data Centres in Africa Focus Report published by Oxford Business Group in April 2024, Africa needs approximately 1,000 MW of capacity and 700 additional facilities to meet surging demand. Mordor Intelligence forecasts that the African data center market will grow from $1.94 billion in 2025 to $3.85 billion by 2030, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.69%.

Isaac K. Kassouwi