The Chief Executive Officer of Digital Realty Nigeria, Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani has said that Nigeria currently has about 30 megawatts of data centre capacity, which is 5% of the needed capacity to sustain its digital economy drive.
Nnamani stated this in a chat with the media under the aegis of Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) in Lagos.
According to him, a report published some years back indicated that Nigeria, as of now, should have at least 600 megawatts of IT load, given the size of the economy, population, GDP, and what it should be as a truly digital economy.
“Today we have about 30 megawatts. So, you can see the percentage of what we have compared to what we need to have,” he said.
Number of data centres
While noting that the IT load refers to capacity alone, he said the country is also far behind in terms of the number of data centres needed.
“We’ve made progress in building data centers, but it’s nowhere near enough. Cities like Toronto have over 30 data centers, while Nigeria is still lagging far behind. We’re just at the beginning stages of what needs to be done to achieve a truly digital economy,” Nnamani noted.
- He emphasized the need for visionary leadership in the data center sub-sector to attract investment and develop the required infrastructure.
- He also called for more government support, stressing that regulation should focus on fostering growth in the industry rather than merely extracting income.
- According to him, there’s been good progress in Lagos, but in most other states, infrastructure development is still lacking.
- He said the government needs to drive this infrastructure to ensure that cross-city services are available for the overall growth of the economy and the well-being of the people.
Nairametrics earlier reported that data centre operators in Nigeria are currently grappling with the severe impact of the protracted forex crisis, which is now threatening millions of dollars in investments already sunk into building the facilities.
Industry stakeholders have raised concerns about the growing difficulty in attracting additional funding, as operators struggle to generate returns amid the worsening exchange rate instability.
Framework for AI
Meanwhile, speaking on the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nigeria, Nnamani emphasised the need for the government to develop an ethical framework to avoid potential misuse.
Nnamani pointed out that while there are individuals creating ethical AI solutions, they are far outnumbered by those focusing on AI solely for profit, often overlooking ethical considerations. This, he noted, is a global issue, not just limited to Nigeria.
“Even in the U.S., there are significant efforts in Congress and the Executive branch to establish AI safety and best practices.
“The concern is that many are focused only on the value AI brings them, without considering its potential consequences. This is why ethical considerations must be at the forefront of AI development,” he stated.
- Nnamani noted that governments worldwide, including in the U.S., are actively developing policies to prevent the misuse of AI and to ensure it is used responsibly.
- He lauded Nigeria’s regulatory efforts but described them as a “work in progress,” noting that AI adoption in Nigeria is still in its early stages. This, he said, gives the government time to assess potential risks and implement policies to mitigate them.
- On concerns that AI might lead to job losses, Nnamani downplayed the fears, suggesting instead that AI would drive upskilling among Nigerians.
“It’s not AI that takes jobs away; it’s a matter of people needing to retrain and learn how to use AI for better efficiency and cost-effectiveness,” he explained.
What you should know
The Nigerian government through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, has been encouraging Nigerians to embrace and develop AI through its various initiatives.
The Ministry recently released the country’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy document, which is currently being reviewed by MDAs, following which it would be adopted as a national policy to guide all government efforts in Al.
- The government has also formed the Al Collective which will collaborate on research, projects of interest, hackathons, and seminars to develop an inclusive approach to Nigeria’s AI initiatives.
- According to the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, the LLM will be trained in 5 low-resource languages and accented English to ensure stronger language representation in existing datasets for the development of Artificial Intelligence solutions.