Huawei Technologies, a global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, has announced its intention to construct a data centre in Nigeria. This move is in alignment with the nation’s regulations requiring local data storage. The proposed data centre, also known as a ‘cloud site,’ is slated to become operational on October 31, 2024. It aims to offer data storage solutions and computing services to Nigerian enterprises and various industry sectors.
The announcement was made by David Olaiya, the Head of Cloud Fintech Business Development at Huawei Nigeria, during his keynote address at the Fintech Week event held in Lagos, Nigeria. Olaiya revealed that the planned data centre in Nigeria will serve as an extension of Huawei’s cloud services network, which includes an existing infrastructure in South Africa and a data centre in Ireland. The Nigerian facility will be interconnected with these locations.
Olaiya further explained that the establishment of a local data centre is a strategic move to address issues related to data sovereignty and regulatory compliance. It is also expected to enhance the availability of services within Nigeria and reduce latency for users. He highlighted that the initiative is a direct response to the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), which stipulates that the data of Nigerian users must be stored domestically.
During his speech, Olaiya underscored the challenges faced by companies using international cloud services, particularly with respect to compliance, as data is often transferred across international borders. He pointed out that the Huawei data centre will enable Nigerian businesses, especially those in the fintech sector that are subject to stringent data protection regulations, to store their data within the country.
Globally, Huawei Cloud has established a presence with 93 availability zones across 33 regions. However, as of now, it maintains data centre regions in South Africa and Egypt only. In Egypt, Huawei Cloud has forged a strategic partnership with Telecom Egypt to set up Huawei’s inaugural public cloud platform on Egyptian soil, a move that supports the country’s digital transformation agenda.
In a related development, Huawei Cloud announced in April 2024 its commitment to assist 100 Nigerian startups by providing them with resources to innovate and expand using Huawei Cloud over the forthcoming two years. Additionally, in early May 2024, the Nigerian government unveiled its plan to inaugurate a data centre with a storage capacity of up to 1.4 petabytes by the end of that month. This facility is intended to securely store vital national data, including the biometric information of Nigerian citizens.
