Africa's digital economy is growing rapidly, but its digital infrastructure is not keeping pace. Every day, vast amounts of African data are generated, yet most of it is processed, stored, and monetized outside the continent. If Africa is to truly control its digital future, from tech to the creative industries, data centers must be treated as strategic infrastructure, not peripheral technology assets.

By scale, demand, and talent alone, Nigeria should already be Africa's data center hub. The fact that it is not reveals an important truth: this is not a demand problem — it is an execution problem.

Why Nigeria's Data Center Strategy Must Go Sub-National

Africa's digital infrastructure has followed the same path as its ports, banks, and telecoms: excessive concentration in a single city. While Lagos remains critical, over-centralization creates fragility, congestion, and systemic risk.

Nigeria's emergence as Africa's data center hub will not be achieved by Lagos alone. It will be achieved state by state, through sub-national execution that aligns infrastructure with local policy, power, and economic priorities. This belief is why GDC's flagship hyperscale campus is being developed in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Abeokuta, Ogun State: A Scalable Digital Infrastructure Blueprint

Abeokuta offers a rare combination of attributes essential for hyperscale infrastructure:

• Proximity to Lagos without its congestion risk
• Access to land at true campus scale
• A reform-minded sub-national government
• Power flexibility and expansion headroom
• Strategic positioning for Southwest and West African data traffic

Power-First, Campus-Scale Execution

Power is the single most critical determinant of data center success in Africa, accounting for up to 80% of operating costs. At GDC, power is not an afterthought — it is the foundation.

Our approach deliberately combines:

• Grid power, where available
• Gas-powered baseload generation for industrial-grade reliability
• Renewable energy integration for long-term sustainability
• Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) and phased power supply arrangements

Hyperscaler-Grade From Day One — Not Hyperscaler-Dependent

GDC is not building for hyperscalers. We are building at hyperscaler standards. This distinction matters.

Our infrastructure is being designed from inception to support the most demanding workloads, including:

• Tier III+ aligned architecture
• High-density and AI-ready zones
• Liquid-cooling compatibility
• Sovereign-grade security and resilience
• Global compliance and operational benchmarks

Solving the Other Half of the Equation: Demand

Infrastructure alone does not create a hub. Demand does. Alongside our hyperscale infrastructure, we have established a dedicated digitalization and industry transformation team.

Digitizing Ogun State: Turning Policy Into Infrastructure Demand

Our first large-scale demand program is in Ogun State, where GDC is working to digitize all 20 local governments across the state. This includes:

• Digital platforms for local government administration
• Revenue collection and financial systems
• Land, asset, and planning registries
• Citizen services and records management
• Education, health, and social services data systems

The Bigger Picture

Nigeria does not become Africa's data center hub by building more facilities. It becomes the hub by aligning infrastructure, power, policy, demand, and capital.

GFA Technologies Group is an ecosystem builder, and we know that data centers do not stand alone. We will surround GDC with:

• IXPs
• Cloud on-ramps
• Managed service providers
• AI labs
• Training academies
• Startup zones

👉 Read full article on LinkedIn: How Nigeria Will Become Africa's Data Center Hub