Global data center provider Equinix has announced a significant investment of $140 million to expand digital infrastructure across southern Nigeria over the next two years. This move marks a major step towards decentralizing the country's internet capacity beyond Lagos, where 70% of subsea cable landings and data infrastructure are currently concentrated.

The investment will include the launch of Equinix PR1, the company's first data center in Port Harcourt, which will also serve as the first Nigerian landing station for Meta's 2Africa submarine cable. This development is expected to dramatically increase bandwidth capacity in the region and reduce the reliance on Lagos. Additionally, Equinix will scale up its third Lagos facility, LG3, to support growing enterprise and cloud demand.

Nigeria's digital infrastructure has undergone rapid evolution in the last two decades, with mobile subscribers growing from zero to over 140 million since the auction of GSM licenses in 2001. The rise of tower companies in 2012 and investments in data centers and fiber-optic networks have further matured the infrastructure. However, until recently, local data infrastructure was limited, serving only basic connectivity needs. The entry of major global investors like Equinix in 2020 marked a significant shift, integrating Nigeria into the broader digital economy.

Today, Equinix operates over 260 International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in 74 metropolitan areas globally, interconnected through Equinix Fabric, a software-defined platform enabling secure, high-performance connectivity between data centers, cloud services, and enterprise networks. Nigeria now hosts eight submarine cable landings, including two of the world's most advanced systems—Google's Equiano and Meta's 2Africa—offering design capacities exceeding 100 Tbps.

However, the benefits of this expansion remain vulnerable without robust infrastructure redundancy. Equinix is addressing this challenge by routing traffic over multiple cables in West Africa on an active/active basis, ensuring that customers will not notice the impact of a cable failure. This proactive strategy introduces critical resilience into the region's digital infrastructure.

The digital divide in Nigeria remains a significant challenge, with a key bottleneck being the middle-mile infrastructure linking coastal landing stations to inland users. While cities like Lagos, Accra, and Abidjan benefit from relatively strong connectivity, many interior regions remain underserved. Nigeria's National Broadband Plan (2020–2025) targets 70% broadband penetration by 2025, but as of January 2025, penetration remains at just 45%. The World Bank estimates that Nigeria needs an additional 95,000 kilometers of fiber to achieve full nationwide coverage.

To address this gap, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy recently launched a Broadband Alliance focused on developing a national fiber backbone. Private sector players like Equinix are seen as critical to achieving this vision. The launch of Equinix PR1 in Port Harcourt will not only enhance Southern Nigeria's internet capacity but also contribute to the geographic diversification of digital infrastructure, promoting a more inclusive and balanced digital future for Nigeria.

Equinix's investment is expected to have a significant impact on the region's digital economy, enabling industry ecosystems to form and collaborate to grow the region's digital economy. As Wole Abu, Managing Director of Equinix West Africa, noted, "Our vendor-neutral platform and robust interconnection capabilities can help industry ecosystems form in West Africa and collaborate to grow the region's digital economy."