Nigeria’s data centre market is projected to grow steadily, driven by cloud demand, fintech expansion and increased digital services across sectors.
Against this backdrop, Arista Networks, a global cloud networking company, in partnership with MART Networks and Resourcery Plc, hosted “Efficiency Meets Performance – The Arista Advantage” on Tuesday at the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel.
The event brought together telecom operators, financial institutions, and other technology experts, to discuss how to build faster, more reliable networks while keeping costs under control, with particular attention on reducing energy use in a power-constrained market.
Speaking at the event, Arista’s Territory Account Manager for West Africa, Jide Olagbenro, said demand for efficient infrastructure is increasing as organisations look to balance performance with the cost of operation.
“Power is a real issue here,” he said. “You don’t want devices that consume too much energy. That is one of the reasons customers are turning to Arista.”
He added that the company’s solutions are already in use across key sectors in Nigeria, including financial services and large-scale industrial operations, emphasising the growing acceptance in the region.
“We are seeing strong adoption in this market,” he said. “But we need to keep working closely with our partners to expand that reach.”
Arista’s Regional Sales Director for sub-Saharan Africa, Marius Keown, pointed to the company’s global footprint, noting that its technology underpins some of the world’s largest cloud and content platforms.
“Some of the biggest platforms in the world run on our network,” he said. “They would not invest at that level if the technology did not perform.”
He further noted that the company’s growth has been driven largely by engineering focus rather than aggressive marketing. “We focus on building solid technology and letting the results speak.”
Ify Chukwuma, head of Business Development, sub-Saharan Africa at Resourcery Plc Group, highlighted the importance of aligning technology with business needs, drawing on the company’s long-standing presence in Nigeria.
“We’ve been in business for 40 years. That tells you we understand this market,” she said. “What we do is align technology with business needs and deliver solutions that are cost-effective and intelligent.”
She added that partnerships are essential to delivering large-scale infrastructure projects. “We can’t do this alone. That is why we partner with global players like Arista, to bring value to customers and give them peace of mind.”
Esther Oyedokun, country manager at MART Networks, said distribution, training and local support are key to successful deployment across African markets.
“Our goal is simple, to empower businesses with the right technology,” she said. “We don’t just supply products, we provide training, pre-sales and post-sales support, and ensure our partners are fully equipped.”
She noted that access to local stock and technical expertise helps reduce delays and improve service delivery.
On the technical side, Faith Oladapo, product manager for Enterprise Networking at MART Networks, a distributor for Arista Networks, said energy efficiency is becoming a practical concern for operators managing Nigeria’s data centres.
“Our switches can reduce power consumption by up to 30%,” she said. “At first, that may not seem like much, but in a data centre environment, over time, it becomes significant.”
She added that a unified software system across Arista’s products simplifies deployment and reduces licensing complexity.
“We use a single operating system across our products. That makes deployment easier and reduces costs.”
Oladapo also pointed to adequate distribution management as a way to reduce the circulation of unsupported products in the market.
“One of the problems in the market is the spread of unsupported or counterfeit products,” she said. “We manage distribution carefully to ensure customers get genuine, fully supported solutions.”
The company’s near-term focus in Nigeria will be on building local capacity. “We are investing in training partners and engineers, because they are the ones driving adoption on the ground,” Oladapo said.
Efficiency has become an indispensable factor as demand for digital services grows, and organisations place greater emphasis on infrastructure that delivers performance without increasing operational stress.
Arista and its partners are therefore placing priority on delivering networks that combine speed, reliability and lower energy use, across data centres and other sectors, while supporting the scale required by Nigeria’s expanding digital economy.
