Airtel Nigeria has announced plans to construct what it claims will be Nigeria’s largest data centre, directly challenging MTN’s recently launched $235 million Sifiso Dabengwa Data Centre, currently recognized as the biggest Tier III facility in West Africa.
At a recent media briefing, Airtel Nigeria CEO Dinesh Balsingh and Director of Airtel Business Ogo Ofomata unveiled the company’s ambitious project: a hyperscale data centre with an IT load capacity of 38 megawatts, to be located in Eko Atlantic, Lagos. This capacity is more than eight times that of MTN’s current 4.5 MW facility, which is designed to scale up to 9 MW in future phases.
“We don’t want to start small. We are building at a hyperscale level, designed for the new server loads that modern infrastructure demands,” said Ofomata.
While MTN’s facility is geared toward cloud hosting and enterprise services, Airtel is positioning its data centre to meet the computational demands of artificial intelligence. Balsingh emphasized that the infrastructure is being built specifically to support GPU servers, which require significantly more power and cooling than traditional CPU-based systems.
“Data centres are actually for artificial intelligence,” Balsingh explained. “GPU servers are ten times the size of CPU servers and have a hundred times the computing power. If you want to make transformational change, you need high-capacity data centres that can handle the computing demands AI brings.”
Airtel has already begun deploying GPU servers, with the facility being designed from the ground up to accommodate AI workloads, rather than just basic cloud storage or web hosting.
Unlike MTN’s facility, Airtel’s data centre will be located in Eko Atlantic, a decision driven by considerations around security, power reliability, and infrastructure readiness. Ofomata also noted that while most data centres operate with rack power of around 1.5 kilowatts, Airtel’s facility will start at six kilowatts per rack, underscoring its readiness for heavy computational tasks.
MTN’s Dabengwa Data Centre, launched in July 2025, features 780 racks and 96 modular containers, and is designed to attract enterprise clients and local cloud users. It has also launched an accelerator program to onboard startups and entrepreneurs into its cloud ecosystem.
With Airtel entering the space at a larger scale and with a focus on AI, the competition between the two telecom giants is set to intensify, potentially reshaping Nigeria’s digital infrastructure landscape. While Airtel has not yet disclosed a launch date or full technical specifications, executives say more details will be revealed in an official announcement soon.
